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1883. 


CHICAGO'S 


FIRST  HfiLF  CENTURY. 


THE  CITY  AS  IT  WAS  FIFTY  YEARS  AGO, 
AND  AS  IT  IS  TO-DAY. 


THE  TRADE,  COMMERCE,  MANUFACTORIES,  RAILROADS,  BAHKS, 

WHOLESALE   AND   RETAIL    HOUSES,  THEATERS, 

HOTELS,  CHURCHES,  AND  SCHOOLS. 


CHICAGO : 
THE  INTEH  OCEAN  PUBLISHING  COMPXNT. 


W.    P.    DUNN   &  Co..   PRINTERS 
1883. 


COPYRIGHT  BY 
THE  INTER  OCEAN  PUBLISHING  COMPANY. 

1883. 


-1(1. Jll 

(L433JL 


COJVTENTS. 


t  A  CITY  OF  SURPRISES— THE  FIBST  SETTLER ;  CHICAGO  VrLtAQis:  IN  ASHES;  THB 
BRIDGES  AND  TUNNELS;  CHURCH  HISTORY.  PUBLIC  INSTITUTIONS— OUR  EARLIEST 
OFFICIALS;  THE  POSTOFFICE  THEN  AND  Now;  THE  WATERWORKS;  THE  CANAL;  STREET 
RAILWAYS:  THE  CHICAGO  Cmr  RAILROAD  COMPANY;  CEMETERIES  OF  CHICAGO:  ROSE 
HILL;  GHACELAND;  PARKS  AND  BOULEVARDS;  THE  WASHINGTON  PARK  CLUB;  THE 
SPORTING  CAPITAL;  A.  G.  SPAULDINO-  &  BROTHERS.  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS 
—THE  OLD  PEDAGOGUE:  CHICAGO  HOMEOPATHIC  COLLEGE;  H.  B.  BRYANT'S\CHICAGO 
BUSINESS  COLLEGE:  THE  CHICAGO  VETERINARY  COLLEGE;  OUR  MUSICAL  HISTORY; 
WEBER  Music  HALL;  THE  CHICAGO  MUSICAL  COLLEGE;  THB  CONN  MANUFACTORY  OF 
MUSICAL  INSTRUMENTS;  ARTISTIC  DECORATION. 

H.  THE  ART  PRESERVATIVE— NEWSPAPER  HISTOBY;  THB  INTEB  OCEAN;  CHICAGO 
NEWSPAPER  UNION:  THE  PUBLISHING  TRADE;  THE  CURRENT;  AMERICAN  PRESS  AS- 
SOCIATION; THE  REMINGTON  TYPE- WRITER;  BBADNEH  SMITH  <fc  Co.;  J.  M.  W.  JONES 
COMPANY;  J.  W.  BUTLER  COMPANY;  SKEEN  <fe  STUART  COMPANY;  W.  P.  DUNN  &  Co.; 
CRUMP  LABEL  Co;  J.  W.  MIDDLETON;  A.  ZEESE  &  Co.;  WOOD  ENGRAVING;  PHOTO- 
ENGRAVING IN  THE  WEST;  BLOMGBEN  BROS.  &  Co.;  MARDEB  LUCE  &  Co.;  Tint  ILLI- 
NOIS TYPE-FOUNDING  Co. 

HI.  THE  CHICAGO  THEATERS— EARLY  DAYS  ON  THE  STAGE;  McViCKER's  THEATER; 
HOOLEY'S  THEATER;  GRAND  OPEBA  HOUSE:  HAVERLY'S  THEATER;  ACADEMY  OF  Music. 

IV.  HOTELS  TO  BE  PROUD  OF— THE  OLD-TIME  TAVERNS;  THB  PALMES  HOUSE;  THE 
GARDEN  OF  EDEN;  THE  TREMONT  HOUSE;  GRAND  PACIFIC  HOTEL;  THE  SHERMAN 
HOUSE;  LELAND  HOTEL;  THE  CLIFTON  HOUSE;  THB  ATLANTIC  HOTEL;  MUNGEH'S 
LAUNDRY;  GURNEY  PHAETON  AND  CAB  Co. 

V.  THE  ROME  OF  RAILROADS— THEY  ALL  LEAD  TO  CHICAGO;  THE  ILLINOIS  CEN- 
TRAL; THE  "MONON  ROUTE";  CHICAGO,  BURLINGTON  AND  QUINCY;  CHICAGO,  ROCK  IS- 
LAND AND  PACIFIC;  CHICAGO  AND  NORTHWESTERN;  ATLANTIC  AND  PACIFIC. 

•VX  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE— AN  HISTORICAL  CHAPTER;  L.  EVERINGHAM  &  Co.;  WM. 
C.  DUELL  &  Co. ;  CHARLES  E.  CULVER  &  Co. ;  EDWARD  A.  DRIVER  &  Co. ;  T.  M.  BAX- 
TER &  Co. ;  J.  T.  LESTER  &  Co. ;  CHANDLER,  BROWN  &  Co. ;  KEMPER  BROS.  &  ERMEL- 
ING;  RUMSEY  <fe  BUELL;  BROSSEAU.  BOOTH  &  Co.:  SMITH,  McCoHMiCK  &  Co. 

VEL  THE  BANKS  OF  CHICAGO— BANKING  IN  EARLY  DAYS;  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  BANK; 
PRESTON,  KEAN  &ICo. :  CHARLES  HENHOTIN;  NATIONAL  BANK  OF  ILLINOIS;  CONTINEN- 
TAL NATIONAL  BANK;  N.  W.  HARRIS  &  Co.;  BENNETT'S  LAW  AND  COLLECTING  ASSOCI- 
ATION; REXFORD  &  PRENTICE. 

7m.  THE  INSURANCE  BUSINESS— SOMETHING  OF  ITS  HISTORY;  PLATE  GLASS  INSUR- 
ANCE; WESTERN  MANUFACTURES;  TRADERS;  SUN  FIRE  OFFICE  OF  LONDON;  LIVERPOOL, 
LONDON  AND  GLOBE;  THE  NEW  ORLEANS;  FIRE  INSURANCE  ASSOCIATION  OF  NEW  OB- 
LEANS;  THE  FIRE  INSURANCE  ASSOCIATION  OF  LONDON;  NORTHERN  ASSURANCE  Co.; 
THE  NIAGARA;  THE  PHCENIX;  THE  HOME;  NEW  YORK  ALLIANCE ;  LANCASHIRE;  CITY  OF 
LONDON;  E.  W.  LTMAN  &  Co.:  S.  M.  MOORE  &  Co.;  GRANGER  SMITH  &  Co.;  DUCAT  & 
LYON;  LIFE  INSURANCE;  THE  MUTUAL  RESERVE  FUND. 

EX.  MERCANTILE— HISTORY  OF  THE  WHOLESALE  TRADE;  MARSHALL  FIELD  <fe  Co.;  J.  V. 
FARWELL  &  Co.;  C.  M.  HENDERSON;  WILLIAM  BLAIR  <fe  Co.;  MORRISON,  PLUMMER  «fe 
Co.;  HENRY  W.  KING  <fe  Co.;  JONES  &  LAUGHLINS;  CLAPP  &  DA  VIES;  CARSON,  PIRIE, 
SCOTT  &  Co.;  SENECA  D  KIMBABK.  THE  RETAIL  TRADE— AN  HISTORICAL  CHAPTER; 
S.  GUY  SEA;  "THE  FAIR;"  "THE  BEE-HIVE;"  F.  SIEGEL  &  BROS.  ;  PARDRIDGE'S  EMPOR- 
IUM; GILES  BROS.  «fe  Co.;  WM.  M.  DALE;  E.  BUHNHAM;  M.  THOME;  J.  W.  GHISWOLD 
&  Co.;  HALL'S  SAFE  AND  LOCK  COMPANY;  B.  F.  SMITH;  THE  CHICAGO  SCALH  COM- 
PANY; JOHN  W.  NOBBIS. 


X.    CHICAGO'S  INDUSTRIES— HISTORY  or  HEB  MANUFACTURES;  THE  CHICAGO 

FELLOE  COMPANY;  MTLTMOKK  ELASTIC  STEEL  CAB-WHEEL  COMPANY;  GEETS,  LUMBARD 
•fe  Co.;  BMOKE  PREVENTION;  CALUMET  IBON  AND  STEEL  COMPANY;  N.  A.  WILLIAMS; 
THE  VAN  DEPOELE  ELECTRIC  LIGHT;  J.  S.  KIBK  &  Co.;  WESTERN  BBICK  AND  TILE 
COMPANY;  THE  CHICAGO  WIBE  AND  IRON  WORKS;  CLEVELAND  CO-OPERATIVE  STOVZ 
COMPANY;  CEANE  BROTHERS'  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY ;  BURLINGTON  MANUFACTURING 
COMPANY;  THOMAS  DOUGALL;  SPIELMAN  BROS.;  PURTELL,  HA  NX  AN  &  Co.;  J.  J.  WIL- 
SON; TRUSSING  VINEGAR  WORKS;  THE  YOUNG  <fc  FARRELL  DIAMOND  STONE  SAWING 
COMPANY;  THE  ALLEN  PAPEB  CAR  WHEEL  COMPANY;  SMOKE  CONSUMPTION;  Goss  & 
PHILLIPS  MANUFACTURING  COMPANY;  FULLER  &  WARREN  COMPANY:  THE  WESTERN 
LEATHER  COMPANY:  A.  H.  ANDREWS  &  Co.;  BEJUS  <fe  McAvoY.  LUMBER— HOLBROOK 
&  Co. :  HAMILTON  &  MERRYMAN  COMPANY. 

XI.  CHICAGO'S  SUBURBS— THE  UNION  STOCKYARDS;  ARMOTJR  &  Co.  SOUTH  BEND— 
O'BRIEN  VABNISH  WORKS;  THE  COQUILL  AND  WAGON;  SISTERS  OF  THE  HOLY  CROSS; 
PORTLAND  CEMENT;  DR.  J.  A.  MCGILL.  KOCKFORD— THE  Boss  AND  ACME  CHURNS; 
BUTTER  COLOR;  ROCKFORD  BUSINESS  COLLEGE.  AURORA— THE  AMERICAN  WELL 
WORKS:  THE  HOTEL  EVANS:  WOOLEN  MILLS.  KEXOSHA— NORTHWESTERN  WIRE  MAT- 
/TRESS  COMPANY.  MILWAUKEE— E.  D.  BANGS'  PHOTOGRAPH  ESTABLISHMENT;  GOLDEN 
EAGLE  CLOTHING  HOUSE;  O.  L.  ROSECRANS  <fe  Co.,  JEWELRY;  FRANKFURTH  <fe  Co., 
HARDWARE;  SPENCERIAN  BUSINESS  COLLEGE;  SILAS  CHAMPMAN,  MAPS  AND  SHOW- 
CARDS.  OSHKOSH— CURE  FOR  CONSUMPTION.  RACINE— THE  DICKEY  FANNING  MILLS. 
WAUKEGAN— POWELL  &  DOUGLASS. 

XIL  CHEAPER  GAS— THE  CONSUMEBS'  GAS,  FUEL,  AND  LIGHT  COMPANY  COMMENCES 
BUSINESS. 

XIIL  THE  PRODUCE  TUADE— REVIEW  FOR  1883;  PRODUCE  STATISTICS;  CASH  PRICES; 
ELEVATOR  CAPACITY:  TRADE  RULES;  GRAIN  INSPECTION;  RATES  OF  COMMISSION. 
FLOUR  AND  GRAIN— FLOUR;  WINTER  WHEAT;  WHEAT;  CORN;  OATS;  RYE;  BARLEY. 
PACKING  AND  PROVISIONS— PORK  PACKING;  PROVISIONS.  LIVE  STOCK— REVIEW 
FOB  1883:  CATTLE;  DRESSED  BEEF;  THE  HOG  MARKET;  SHEEP;  LUMBER,  COAL,  AND 
SALT.  COUNTRY  PRODUCE— A  GOOD  YEAR;  SEEDS;  BUTTER;  EGGS;  CHEESE;  HOPS; 
BHOOMCORN;  HIDES;  POTATOES;  DRIED  FRUITS;  WOOL;  HAY.  THE  MERCANTILE 
TRADE— A  THOROUGH  CANVASS;  DRY  GOODH;  MILLENERY  AND  FANCY  GOODS:  CLOTH- 
ING; GENTLEMEN'S  FURNISHING  GOODS;  HATS.  CAPS  AND  BUCK  GOODS;  BOOTS  AND 
SHOES;  LEATHER:  HARNESS;  GROCERIES;  FANCY  GROCERIES;  CANNED  GOODS;  TOBACCO 
AND  ClGABS;  FISH  AND  OYSTERS;  CHINA,  CBOCKEBY.  AND  GLASSWABE;  HOUSEHOLD 
FURNITUBE;  OFFICE  AND  SCHOOL  FURNITURE:  WALL  PAPER;  IRON  AND  STEEL;  RE- 
FINED IRON-STEEL  RAILS;  NAILS;  METALS  AND  TINNERS'  STOCK;  HARDWARE.  CUTLERY, 
AND  TOOLS;  WIRE  GOODS;  STOVES;  WAGON-MAKERS'  STOCK;  SCALES  AND  WAREHOUSE 
TRUCKS  :  WAGONS  AND  TRUCKS  ;  CARRIAGES  AND  BUGGIES  ;  SAFES,  VAULTS,  AND  LOCKS  ; 
MACHINERY,  ETC.;  AGRICULTURAL  DEPARTMENTS;  BUILDING  MATEBIALS;  SASH,  DOORS, 
BLINDS.  ETC.;  WINES  AND  LIQUORS;  DRUGS  AND  CHEMICALS;  PAINTS  AND  COLORS; 
OILS;  GLASS;  SOAP;  JEWELRY  AND  WATCHES;  MUSICAL  INSTBUMENTS;  BOOKS  AND  STA- 
TIONERY; TOYS:  WOODEN  AND  WILLOW  WABE. 

XIV.  REALTY  AND  BOOFS— HISTORICAL.  THE  BROKERS— DOOB  PLAT;  E.  A.  CUM- 
MTNGS  <fe  Co.;  KNIGHT  &  MARSHALL;  MEAD  &  COE;  F.  A.  HENSHAW:  BAIRD  &  BRAD- 
LEY; JOHN  JOHNSTON,  JB.-.  J.  C.  MAGILL  &  Co.;  PERMANENT  EXHIBIT  AND  EXCHANGE; 
WM.  D.  KEI;FOOT  &  Co. ;  JAMES  WILMOTT  ;  GEORGE  A.  EMERY  ;  THOMAS  E.  PATTERSON  ; 
BOGUE  <fe  HOYT;  H.  C.  MOBEY  <fe  Co.;  E.  A.  WARFIELD;  SEARL  <fe  ZANDER:  HENRY  C. 
JACOBS:  MANN  A  CONGDON;  S.  E.  GROSS  &  Co.;  COUNTY  ABSTRACTS;  S.  H.  KEBFOOT  «fe 
Co.;  CHICAGO  ANDERSON  PRESSED  BRICK:  B.  F.  JACOBS;  GRIFFIN  &  D  WIGHT;  LAYTON, 
THAYEB  &  Co.;  WHSKELMAN  &  SIMONS;  PAUL  CORNELL;  J.  P.  WHITE  &  Co.;  J.  E. 
BUBCHELL:  IRA  BROWN;  COOPER  &  CARSON:  O.  M.  WELLS  <fe  Co.;  ANDREWS,  BURHANS 
&  COOPER;  A.  LOEB  &  BBO.  ;  HOPKINSON  &  SILVA;  SHOHTALL  <fe  HELMEB;  TURNER  * 
BOND:  EZRA  L.  BRAINERD;  BARNES  &  PAISISH:  M.  J.  RICHABDS;  J.  F.  KEENEY;  E.  W. 
WESTFALL;  PIERCE  &  WARE;  NOAH  BARNES;  15.  R,  DE  YOUNG  &  Co.;  KTNNEY  &  KIM- 
•  BALL;  WOODBURY  M.  TAYLOR;  CHARLES  CLEAVER  &  SON;  JAMES  M.  GAMBLE;  BELDEN 
T.  CULVER;  ERNST  PBUSSING;  H.  A.  HURLBUT;  SCHRADEB  BROTHERS;  J.  APPLETON 
WILSON;  ALBERT  WISNEB;  F.  C.  VZEBLING;  W.  H.  DAVIS;  JOHN  H.  OHLEEKING. 

XT.  SOME  SUBURBS— LA  GBANGE;  MAPLEWOOD;  WESTERN  SPRINGS;  MOBQAN  PARK; 
WASHINGTON  HEIGHTS;  PENNOCK:  CUMMINGS;  RAVENSWOOD;  WOODLAWN;  HAMMOND; 
CHICAGO  LAWN:  FERNWOOD;  KENSINGTON;  AN  IMPORTANT  DISCOVERY;  MUZZY'S  COBN 
STARCH. 


CONTENTS. 


XVI.    FOR  SPECULATORS-METROPOLITAN   GRAIN  AND   STOCK  EXCHANGE;    THE 

GRAIN  AND  STOCK  EXCHANGE;   THE  BIBDSELL  SPBING  WAGONS;  A  NOTABLE  PIOXEEK 
HOUSE. 

DISPLAY  ADVERTISEMENTS. 
THE  MINING  INDUSTBY; 
CITY  HOTEL; 
"OUR  CUKIOSITT  SHOP;" 
THE  INTER  OCEAN  CLUB  LIST; 
JAS,  S.  KIEK  <fe  Co.  ;i 
MABSHALL  FIELD  &  Co.; 
SEA  &  Co.; 

CORTICELLI  SPOOL  SILK; 
THE  GREAT  EOCK  ISLAND  ROUTE; 
WHITNEY  ORGAN  Co.; 
PEOPLES*   RAILWAY  COMPANY  OF  AMERICA; 

MOBGENTHAU  BAULAND   <fc  Co.  ;   BEE-111VE. 


* 


A    CITT    OF    SURPRISES. 


Chicago  has  erer  been  filled  with  surprisea 
Discovered  by  a  Roman  Catholic  priest, 
settled  by  a  San  Domingo  negro,  sold  to  a 
Frenchman  and  for  years  with  no  other  hope 
than  that  of  a  French  settlement;  after- 
ward becoming  subject  to  the  Old  Dominion 
and  part  of  a  slave  State,  and  then  a  frontier 
post  in  Hoosierdom,  what  was  to  be  expected 
of  the  place?  Certainly  not  that  it  should 
be  satisfied  with  the  hum-drum,  easy-going 
existence  of  the  towns  which  had  only  or- 
dinary causes  for  existence. 

It  was  a  hybrid  of  the  worst  order,  in  which 
the  crosses  were  so  complicated  as  to 
baffle  all  attempts  of  the  genealogist  to  figure 
out  a  future. 

There  was  in  her  coming  into  existence 
nothing  but  surprising  paradoxes,  and  these 
pave  reason  to  look  for  surprises  all  through 
her  life.  So  far  the  promise  has  been 
fulfilled  and  the  man  who  would  attempt  to 
picture  the  future  of  this  Garden  City,  the 
metropolis  of  the  Northwest,  must  have  a 
graphic  as  well  as  a  prophetic  pen  and  in- 
dulge in  even  wilder  speculations  than  the 
scribbler  who  lately  sought  to  show  that 


New  York  must  eventually  become  the 
metropolis  of  the  world. 

What  would  be  the  wildest  exaggeration  in 
outlining  a  future  for  other  cities  is  but  a 
mild  form  of  prophecy  concerning  this  city 
of  surprises.  But  it  is  not  the  purpose  here 
to  make  an  attempt  at  such  prophecy  and 
f aiL  Rather  is  it  the  aim  to  record  a  few  of 
the  surprises  of  the  past  and  show  wherein 
she  has  achieved  distinction. 

Not  a  generation  of  her  sons  and  daughters 
but  have  had  some  distinguishing  event 
which  stands  out  as  a  bold  landmark  indicat- 
ing the  line  of  march  through  trials  to  suc- 
cess. 

NOT  A  PBOMISTNO  FOUNDATION. 

Though  but '  a  marshy  and  dreary  slough 
in  which  it  seemed  all  attempts  at  building  a 
city  would  sink  out  of  sight,  Chicago  has  been 
an  important  point  from  time  immemorial 
It  is  not  the  new  place  that  some  of  its  his- 
torians would  make  it  It  has  a  history  that 
ante-dates  that  of  older  cities  in  the  East. 

The  Indian  trails  that  centered  here  long 
before  the  white  man  came  to  the  shores  of 
Lake  Michigan  are  evidence  that  Chicago  i 


10 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


the  Divine  City  and  home  of  the  Thunder  God, 
was  a  Mecca  for  the  wandering  tribes  of  the 
West,  just  as  it  now  is  for  all  the  nations  of 
the  civilized  world. 

How  far  back  this  history  reaches,  it  would 
be  idle  to  conjecture,  but  Father  Jacques 
Marquette  found  an  Indian  village  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Chicago  River  when  he  re- 
turned this  way  from  a  visit  to  the  Illinois 
Indians  along  the  Mississippi  River  in  De- 
cember, 1674,  and  was  only  prevented  say- 
ing the  first  mass  on  the  Feast  of  the  Concep- 
tion because  of  the  bad  weather  encoun- 
tered. 

Father  Marquette  was  the  first  white  man 
to  visit  the  place  and  leave  a  written  account 
as  proof  of  his  enterprise.  He  claimed  the 


him  the  hope  of  planting  a  San  Domingo  col- 
ony on  the  banks  of  the  Chicago  River. 

Then  came  a  Frenchman,  Le  Mai,  a  trader, 
who  "jumped"  the  negro  settler's  claim,  and 
took  possession  of  his  cabin,  and,  after  sev- 
eral years'  residence,  sold  his  interest 
in  Chicago  to  John  Kinzie,  who  was 
then  the  agent  of  Astor's  American 
Fur  Company.  The  cabin  was 
enlarged  and  improved,  and  in  1804  became 
the  home  of  Mr.  Kinzie  and  the  first  house  in 
Chicago. 

The  cut  given  on  this  page  represents  the 
old  Kinzie  house  as  it  looked  in  the  early 
daya 

From  the  time  of  Marquette's  visit  until 
1804  Chicago  was  essentially  French,  and 


place  for  the  Catholic  Church  and  then  re- 
turned to  Mackinaw  and  passed  to  the 
eternal  shores  beyond. 

THB  FIBST   SURPRISE. 

The  first  surprise  in  the  history  of  Chi- 
cago was  in  its  settlement  It  has  been  said 
that  the  first  white  settler  was  a  negro.  This 
was  Jean  Baptise  Point  au  Sable,  who 
came  from  San  Domingo  M  1796,  and 
staked  his  claim  on  the  site  of  the  present 
business  center,  rearing  his  rude  hut  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Dearborn  and  Water  streets 
This  first  "white  settler"  was,  however,  am- 
bitious to  become  an  Indian  chief,  notwith- 
standing his  negro  blood,  and  tried  to  ingra- 
tiate himself  into  the  affections  of  the  Indi- 
ans; but,  meeting  with  poor  success,  he  re- 
moved to  Peoria,  where  he  died,  and  with 


had  France  succeeded  in  holding  the  west- 
ern territory  this  would  have  been  the  Paris 
of  America,  with  the  General  Assembly  here, 
composed  of  delegates  from  Halifax,  Quebec, 
Montreal.  St  Louis,  New  Orleans,  and  the 
Pacific  States. 

By  the  treaty  between  Great  Britain  and 
France  in  1763,  the  Canadas  were  ceded  to 
the  former  power,  and  our  relations  to  the 
two  countries  were  reversed. 

TKrf  FIBST  HEAL  ESTATE  TRANSFER. 

And  by  the  treaty  of  General  Anthony 
Wayne  with  the  Indians  in  1795  the  Indians 
ceded  to  the  United  States:  "One  piece  of 
land  six  miles  square  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Chicago  River,  emptying  into  the  southwest 
end  of  Lake  Michigan  where  a  fort  formerly 
stood."  It  is  supposed  that,  an  old  French 


CHICAGO'S  FIEST  HALF  CENTURY. 


ii 


fort  had  been  built  here  soon  after  Mar- 
quette's  first  visit  by  early  French  explorers. 
This  transaction  between  General  Wayne  and 
the  Indians  was  the  first  real  estate  transfer 
on  record  in  Chicago.  Under  the  conquest  of 
General  George  Rogers  Clark  in  the 
West  the  whole  Chicago  country  was 
claimed  by  Virginia,  and  in  1788 
was  created  the  county  of  Illinois,  embracing1 
the  territory  of  the  whole  State.  Then  it 
was  that  Chicago  belonged  to  the  Old  Do- 
minion, and  had  there  been  no  more  sur- 
prises in  after  years  there  probably  would 
never  have  been  an  Emancipation  proclama- 
tion issued  by  the  rail-splitter  President  from 
the  prairies  of  Illinois;  and  the  city  which 
sent  so  many  brave  men  and  gave  "so  much 
money  to  put  down  the  rebellion  might  have 
been  raising  slaves  instead  of  helping  along 


posts,  and  Aug.  1 5  occurred  the  great  mas- 
sacre in  which  fifty-five  of  the  seventy  per- 
sons at  the  post  were  foully  murdered  by  tfce 
Pottawatomies  after  the  fort  had  "been 
evacuated. 

In  1817  the  fort  was  rebuilt,  and  took  the 
name  of  Fort  Dearborn,  after  General  Henry 
Dearborn,  a  conspicuous  officer  in  the 
American  Revolution  and  afterward  Secre- 
tary of  War.  The  fort  was  built  by  the 
United  States  Government,  and  garrisoned 
with  about  fifty  men.  Its  location  was  that 
occupied  by  the  well-known  wholesale 
grocery  house  of  W.  M.  Hoyt  <k  Co. ,  at  the 
corner  of  Michigan  avenue  and  River  street 

A  FITTING  MEMORIAL 

Mr.  Hoyt  two  years  ago  placed  a  marble 
tablet  in  the  wall  of  his  building  as  a  fitting 
memorial  of  old  Fort  Dearborn,  wnich  had 


THE  OLD  BLOCK- HOUSE. 


to  the  Canadian  shores,  by  means  of  the 
underground  railroad,  those  poor  blacks 
who  had  escaped  from  their  masters  in  the 
South. 

IN  HOOSIERDOM. 

In  1800  the  Territory  of  Indiana  was 
organized,  and  Illinois  was  a  county  of 
that  Territory,  placing  Chicago  in  Hoosier- 
dom,  but  the  General  Government  kindly 
rescued  us  from  that  perilous  situation  in 
1809  by  creating  Illinois  County  into  a  Ter- 
ritory, and  then  in  1818  into  a  State.  It  was. 
however,  under  the  Hoosier  administration 
In  1804,  that  Fort  Chicago  was  built,  on  the 
south  branch  of  the  river,  near  where  Rush 
street  bridge  now  crosses. 

Mr.  Kinzie  came  with  the  soldiers  and  be- 
gan trading  with  the  Indians  for  fura  Chi- 
cago was  then  a  trading  post,  and  was  pros- 
perous for  eight  years.  But  when  the  war 
with  Great  Britain  broke  out  English  emissa- 
ries used  their  influence  with  the  Indians 
to  make  them  hostile  to  the  American  trading 


stood  so  long  in  the  self-same  place.  POT 
twenty  years  the  fort  was  occupied  by 
United  States  troops,  and  abandoned  in  1837, 
when  most  of  the  Indians  had  left  the 
country.  It  stood,  however,  until  1856, 
when  it  gave  place  to  business  houses.  From 
the  time  of  the  rebuilding  of  the  fort  to  1832 
Chicago  was  but  a  small  village,  containing 
only  a  few  huts  and  not  more  than  one  hun- 
dred inhabitants.  The  people  on  the  frontier 
lived  in  daily  fear  of  their  lives  and  were 
ever  ready  to  rush  to  the  fort  for  protection. 
The  first  point  chosen  as  adapted  for  a 
village  wiien  settlers  began  to  arrive  from 
the  East  was  at  the  junction  of  the  north 
and  south  branches  of  the  river,  on  the  West 
Side,  and  this  was  called  Wolf's  Point  There 
were  but  few  buildings  between  the  point 
and  the  garrison  on  the  South  Side.  The 
Miller  House  stood  on  tne  point  of  land  be- 
tween the  North  Branch  and  the  main  chan- 
nel. It  was  built  of  logs,  partly  sided,  and 
was  built  by  Samuel  Miller,  who  lived  ther« 


12 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HAT.Ti'  CENTURY. 


with  his  family  and  hie  brother,  John  Miller. 
A  little  above  its  mouth,  on  the  North 
Branch,  was  a  log  bridge,  which  gave  access 
from  that  quarter  to  the  business  of 
the  agency,  but  the  center  of  attraction  was 
at  Wolfs  Point,  opposite  the  Miller  House. 
Here  was  'another  tavern,  the  public  house 
par  excellence  of  Chicago,  which  served  the 
purpose  of  all  other  public  buildings  com- 
bined. This  was  the  tavern  kept  by  Elijah 
Wentworth.  The  building-  was  partly  log  and 
partly  frame,  and  stood  just  north  of  Lake 
street  bridge.  North  of  this  tavern  was  Father 
Walker's  Methodist  School-House.  It  was  a 
loer  hut,  and  was  used  for  a  school-house.  It 
was  the  meeting-house  of  the  town.  Mr. 
Wentworth's  tavern  was  the  house  where  dis- 
tinguished visitors  stopped,  and  was  the 
headquarters  of  General  Scott  when  he  came 
to  Chicago  with  the  troops  for  the  Black 
Hawk  war  in  1832. 

RAT   CASTLE. 

It  is  said  by  some  historians  that  it  was 
known  as  "Rat  Castle,"  in  contrast  with  its 
rival  on  the  North  Side,  "Cobweb  Castle." 
Over  on  the  North  Side  were  also  the  log 
cabins  of  James  Kinzie,  Alexander  Robinson, 
and  Billy  Caldwell,  principal  chief  of  the 
Pottawatbmie  Indians;  the  storehouse  of 
Robert  A.  Kinzie,  son  of  John  Kinzie,  who 
had  succeeded  his  father  in  the  Indian  trade. 
Across  the  South  Branch,  on  the  east  side, 
resided  Mark  Beaubien,  the  old  fiddler,  who 
died  two  years  ago,  who  also  kept  a  tavern, 
which  in  1831  had  risen  to  a  two-story 
dwelling,  with  green  painted  blinds  to  the 
windows,  and  it  went  by  the  name 
of  the  Sauganash  Hotel — the  Indian 
name  of  Billy  Caldwell — and  so  called 
in  honor  of  that*  distinguished  chief,  because 
he  was  one  of  the  prominent  residents  of 
Chicago.  This  house  stood  at  the  southeast 
corner  of  Lake  and  Market  streets. 

During  the  winter  of  183 1-32  the  inhab- 
itants mostly  occupied  the  garrison.  There 
were  no  mail  routes,  post  routes,  nor  post- 
offices  in  this  part  of  the  country  ana  the 
only  means  the  inhabitants  had  of  knowing 
anything  of  the  world  was  bv  sending  a  half- 
breed  Indian  once  in  two  weeks  to  Niles,  in 
Michigan,  to  procure  papers. 

Among  the  new  settlers  in  this  year  of 
1831  were  George  W.  Dole.  R  A.  Kinzie,  F. 
W.  Peck,  Dr.  Harmon.  Mark  Beaubien.  and 
Russell  E.  Heacock.  During  the  season,  be- 
sides the  vessel  which  carried  away  the  sol- 
diers of  the  garrison,  there  were  two  regu- 
lar arrivals,  the  "Telegraph,"  from  Ashta- 
bula,  Ohio,  and  the  "Marengo,"  from  De- 
troit, Mich. 

FTDDLEB  AND  FEBBYMAN. 

Mark  Beaubien  is  not  only  credited  with 
being  a  first-class  landlord  and  a  jolly  fid- 
dler, who  played  for  all  the  dances  got- 
ten up  in  the  frontier  town,  but 
he  is  also  spoken  of  as  the 
first  ferryman  in  Chicago.  In  the 
year  1831  travel  through  Chicago  became  so 
great  that  Mark  saw  that  it  would  pay  to 
nave  a  ferry  for  this  class  of  travelers.  He 
therefore  obtained  permission  to  establish  a 
ferry  at  the  forks,  or  rather  two  ferries,  one 
to  cross  each  branch  of  the  river.  For  the 
privilege  of  controlling  this  piece  of  public 
works,  he  agreed  to  transport  all  citizens  of 
Cook  Countv  free,  if  allowed  to  charge  non- 
residents. He  did  a  good  work  for  the  public 
and  at  the  same  time  earned  a  good  many 
honest  dollars  trom  those  who  were  going 
through  from  the  East  to  points  fartherWest 
The  first  ferryboat  was  a  scow,  which  cost 


$46.  The  bridge  spoken  of  above  must  hare 
been  a  very  rude  structure,  if  it  existed  at 
all.  Early  settlers  are  not  agreed  upon 
this. 

Clark  street  was  the  principal  highway 
from  north  to  south.  During 
excessive  rains  it  was  impassable 
in  low  places,  but  the  County  Board  had 
no  money  for  repairs.  The  first  public 
money  was  devoted  to  building  a  pound  for 
stray  cattle,  hogs,  and  horses.  This  pound 
cost  $12,  and  was  simply  a  strong  pen.  But 
the  roads  needed  to  be  improved,  and  Mr. 
Williams,  President  of  the  Board,  negotiated 
a  loan  of  $60,  himself  becoming  personally 
responsible  for  tne  payment  of  the  debt. 
This  was  applied  to  the  improvement  of 
Clark  street,  and  thus  the  public  credit  and 
improvement  in  Chicago  began, 

CHICAGK)    VILLAGE. 

HOW  IT    WAS    INCOBPOBATED. 

But  as  yet  Chicago  was  only  a  settlement 
with  only  the  county  organization  for  a 
government  In  1833  the  village  was  incor- 
porated and  there  were  many  improvements. 
It  became  a  place  of  considerable  importance 
and  attracted  the  great  body  of  immigrants 
who  came  West  in  that  year.  The  Indian 
lands  were  to  be  sold  and  Chicago  started  out 
with  a  boom.  The  inns  were  crowded,  and  if 
the  traveler  could  but  secure  a  place  on  the 
floor  to  sleep,  he  considered  himself  fortu- 
nate. During  the  summer  160  houses  were 
built  and  the  number  of  stores  was  increased 
from  five  or  six  to  twenty-five.  Among 
the  new  buildings  was  the  Green 
Tree  Tavern,  the  first  structure 
ever  built  in  the  place,  especially  as  a  public 
house.  While  the  old  Kinzie  house  and  sev- 
eral other  houses  had  been  open  to  travelers, 
there  had  never  been  a  building  put  up  for 
that  purpose  until  the  Green  Tree,  in  1833. 

The  United  States  Government  began  to 
pay  some  attention  to  the  growing  town  on 
the  lake  shore  and  the  harbor  was  improved 
at  an  expense  of  325,000.  The  channel  of 
the  river  was  straightened,  widened,  and 
deepened.  The  sand-bar  which  was  at  the 
mouth  and  turned  the  river  down  the  shore 
from  Water  street  to  Madison  before  empty- 
ing into  the  lake  was  cut  through,  and 
vessels  were  able  to  enter  and  pass  up 
to  the  forks.  The  mail  arrived  semi-weekly 
and  departed  for  Galena,  Springfield,  Alton, 
and  St  Lo u is. 

INCOBPOBATKD   CHICAGO. 

But  of  all  the  events  of  that  year  the  chief 
was  the  incorporation  of  the"  town  of  Chi- 
cago. A  public  meeting  was  called  at  the 
Sauganash  Hotel  Aug.  5,  1833,  to  take  steps 
toward  incorporating  a  town.  There  were 
thirteen  citizens  present,  and  those  voting 
for  the  incorporation  were  John  8.  C.  Hogan, 
C.  A.  Ballard,  G.  W.  Snow,  R  J.  Hamilton,  J. 
T.  Temple,  John  Wright.  G.  W.  Dole,  Hiram 
Pearsons,  Alanson  Sweet,  E.  S.  Kimberly.  T. 
L  V.  Owen,  and  Mark  Beaubien.  Russell  E. 
Heacock,  whose  residence  was  out  of  all 
probable  corporate  limits,  was  the  only  one 
to  vote  against  it  The  first  election 
for  Town  Trustees  was  held  Aug.  10 
from  11  o'clock  until  1.  The  voters  on 
this  occasion  were:  E.  S.  Kimberly,  L  B. 
Beaubien,  Mark  Beaubien,  T.  i  V.  Owen, 


CHICAGO'S  FIBST  HAT.y  CENTUKY. 


13 


Wtn.  Ninson,  Hiram  Pearsons.  Philo  Carpen- 
ter, George  Chapman,  John  Wright,  John  T. 
Temple,  Mathias  Smith,  David  Carrar,  James 
Kinzie,  Charles  Taylor,  John  S.  C.  Hogan,  Eli 
A.  Rider,  Dexter  L  Hapgood,  Geo.  W.  Snow, 
Medore  B.  Beaubien,Gholson  Kercheval,  Geo. 
W.  Dole,  B.  J.  Hamilton,  Stephen  F.  Gale, 
Enoch  Darling,  W.  H.  Adams,  C.  A.  Ballard, 
John  Watkins,  James  Gilbert — 28. 

Of  those  who  participated  in  the  proceed- 
ings of  this  meeting  only  the  following  are 
alive  to-day:  Medore  Beaubien,  who  now 
resides  at  Silver  Lake,  Kan. ;  Philo  Carpenter, 
who  resides  on  West  Washington  street; 
Stephen  F.  Gale,  who  resides  at  45  South 
Peoria  street,  and  John  Watkins,  who  resides 
at  Joliet. 

The  following  were  elected  Trustees:  T.  L 


had  been  begun,  land  speculators  were  buy- 
ing up  the  land,  and  there  was  plenty  of 
capital  in  Chicago. 

On  Oct  26,  1836,  the  Town  Board  took  the 
necessary  steps  to  secure  a  charter  for  the 
city  of  Chicago.  A  public  meeting  was  held 
Nov.  25.  and  E.  B.  Williams,  as  President,  ap- 

gointed  J.  D.  Caton,  Ebenezer  Peck,  T.  W. 
mith,  W.  B.  Ogden  and  Nathan  Boiles  dele- 
gates to  draw  up  a  charter  for  presentation. 
This  charter  was  presented  to  the  board  Dec. 
9,  was  finally  adopted,  and,  March  4,  1837, 
the  Legislature  passed  the  bill  approving  of 
the  charter. 

FIBST  ELECTION. 

The  first  election  held  under  the  charte* 
was  May  2,  1837,  and  two  tickets  were  in 
the  field.  The  Whig  ticket,  anti-caucus  can- 


THE  GKEEN  TREE  TAVERN. 


V.  Owen.  George  W.  Dole,    M.  D.    Beaubien 
John  Miller,  and  E.  S.  Kimberly. 

THE  FIBST   CITY  LIMITS. 

The  first  meeting  was  held  Aug.  12,  and 
Colonel  Owen  chosen  President  The  boun- 
daries of  the  village  were:  Commencing  at 
the  intersection  of  Jackson  and  Jefferson 
streets,  thence  north  on  Jefferson  to  Ohio 
street,  thence  east  on  Ohio  street  to  the  lake, 
thence  south  along  the  lake  to  the  middle  of 
the  river,  thence  up  to  State  street,  thence 
South  along  State  to  Jackson  street,  thence 
west  to  the  place  of  beginning,  comprising 
about  seven-eighths  of  a  mile  square.  The 
Jog  made  from  the  mouth  of  the  river  to  State 
street  was  because  of  the  military  reserva- 
tion there.  This  was  the  incorporated  village 
of  Chicago. 

But  during  this  time  the  village  of  Chicago 
was  fast  growing  in  population,  importance 
and  fame,  and  when  in  1837  we  find  it  with 
a  population  of  over  4,000  people,  the  citi- 
zens thought  it  time  they  should  keep  pace 
with  the  surprising  growth  and  have  the 
city  chartered.  In  1833  the  population  had 
been  200,  and  in  1836  it  had  increased  to 
8,820  The  harbor  was  in  process  of  im- 
provement, the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal 


didates,  was  headed  by  John  H.  Kinzie  for 
Mavor,  Alvin  Calhoun  for  High  Constable, 
and  for  Aldermen  Charles  L.  Har- 
mon and  Giles  Spring  from  the  First  Ward; 
George  W.  Dole  and  Thomas  Brock  from  the 
Second  Ward;  Alex.  Logan  and  John  C.  Hu- 
gunin  from  the  Fourth  Ward,  and  John  B. 
F.  Russell  and  Nelson  R.  Norton  from  the 
Sixth  Ward  The  Democratic  ticket 
was  headed  by  William  B.  Ogden 
for  Mayor;  John  Shrigley,  High  Constable; 
and  for  Aldermen,  J.  C.  Goodhue  and  F.  C. 
Sherman,  First  Ward;  Peter  Bolles  and  John 
S.  C.  Hogan.  Second  Ward;  Jodn  Dean  Caton, 
Third  Ward;  Asahel  Pierce  and  Franfc  H.  Tay- 
lor, Fourth  Ward;  Bernard  Ward,  Fifth  Ward; 
Samuel  Jackson  and  Hiram  Pearsons,  Sixth 
Ward. 

The  polling  places  were:  First  Ward, 
"Eagle,"  No.  10  Dearborn  street;  Second 
Ward,  Lincoln  Coffee  House;  Third  Ward, 
Charles  Taylor's  house  on  Canal  street; 
Fourth  Ward,  Chicago  Hotel,  northeast  cor- 
ner of  Canal  and  Lake  streets;  Fifth  Ward, 
canal  office.  North  Water  street;  Sixth  Ward, 
Franklin  House,  on  North  Water  street. 

The  judges  of  this  first  election  were :  First 
Ward,  Wilson  McClintock,  E.  H.  Hadduch, 


14 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


and  F.  C.  Sherman;  Second,  Alex  Loyd,  P.  F. 
W.  Peck,  and  George  Dole;  Third.  Ashbel 
Steele,  Charles  Taylor,  and  George  Vardon; 
Fourth,  David  Cox,  J.  0.  Hugunin.  and  F.  A 
Howe;  Fifth,  Joel  Manning,  Patrick  Murphy, 
and  Bernsley  Huntoon ;  Sixth,  Gholson  Ker- 
cheval,  J.  H.  Kinzie,  and  E.  S.  Kimberley. 

The  total  vote  was  709,  with  408  on  the 
South  Side,  97  on  the  West,  and  204  on  the 
North. 

DEMOCRATIC    BULK. 

The  Democratic  ticket  was  elected,  and 
W.  B.  Ogden  became  the  first  Mayor  oi 
Chicago.  Mr.  Ogden  was  born  in  Walton, 
N.  Y. ,  in  1805,  and  in  1834  was  a  member  of 
the  New  York  Legislature.  In  June,  1835, 
he  caine  to  Chicago.  In  the  election  Mr.  Og- 
den received  469  votes,  and  Mr.  Kinzie  237. 

It  will  be  noticed  here  that  Chicago,  in  be- 
coming a  city,  started  out  under  Democratic 
management,  and  its  politics  have  been  un- 
certain ever  since,  except  when  the  Republic- 
ans were  sure  they  were  to  be  beaten.  The 
First  and  Second  Wards  were  in  the  South 
Division,  the  Third  and  Fourth  in  the  West 
Division,  and  the  Fifth  ahd  Sixth  in  the 
North  Division. 

Francis  H.  Taylor,  who  was  elected  Alder- 
man from  the  Fourtn  Ward,  is  still  living  in 
Chicago,  and  says  of  his  election  that 
it  was  bv  voting  for  himself.  His  op- 
ponent, Logan,  was  a  man  who  was 
not  very  popular  in  the  ward,  and  the 
vote  was  a  tie.  Logan  gallantly  voted  for 
Taylor,  but  the  latter  gentleman  says  he  con- 
sidered it  better  to  forget  courtesy  than  to 
Jose  the  election,  and  at  the  urgent  solicita- 
tion of  his  friends  he  voted  for  himself,  thus 
carrying  the  election. 

The  Hon.  John  Wentworth  was  in  Chicago 
at  that  first  election  and  has  been  a  voter  in 
the  First  Ward  ever  since.  Few  elections  have 
passed  without  him  at  the  polls.  In  those 
early  days  Long  John  was  a  Democrat  and 
editor  ot  the  Democratic  paper. 

At  this  time  he  had  succeeded  Mr.  Calhoun 
as  editor  of  the  Chicago  Democrat,  ana  after 
the  election  he  was  appointed  Corporation 
Printer,  a  position  which  he  held  for  nearly 
twenty -five  years.  He  made  speeches  at  that 
election  and  worked  just  as  hard  for  Mr.  Og- 
den and  the  Democrats  as  he  has  in  late 
years  worked  for  the  Republicans. 
THE  PANIC. 

Chicago  had  now  become  so  important  a 
place  that  speculators  were  busy  building 
it  up  to  great  dimensions  on  paper,  aad  town 
lots  were  staked  off  all  over  the  prairies. 
The  prices  were  high  and  everything  was  go- 
ing off  with  a  boom,  but  in  1837  came  an- 
other surprise  that  taught  Chicago  people 
that  speculation  could  not  be  depended  upon 
altogether.  The  rapid  rise  in  the  value  of 
real  estate  had  crazed  everybody  and  few 
could  resist  the  temptation  to  dabble  in  real 
estate  All  classes  of  people  abandoned  their 
usual  avocations  to  devote  their  time  and 
energy  and  capital  to  speculation.  This  wild 
soirit  found  its  way  into  the  halls  of  legisla- 
tion and  controlled  the  policy  of  States 
as  it  had  done  that  of  individuals. 
It  was  under  the  influence  of  this 
spirit  that  those  stupendous  schemes  of 
internal  improvement  originated  in  many 
new  States  which  led  to  evils  of  debt,  taxa- 
tion, and  disgrace.  Confidence  and  credit, 
too  long  abused,  refused  longer  to  lend  their 
aid.  The  unfortunate  victims  of  the  delusion 
were  suddenly  awakened  from  their  dream  of 
wealth  to  the  certainty  of  almost  universal 
bankruptcy  and  ruin.  Thousands,  suddenly 


called  upon  to  investigate  the  condition  of 
their  affairs,  found  themselves  hopelessly  in- 
volved, and  their  real  estate  depreciated  in 
value  until  it  would  not  sell  at  any  prica 
CHICAGO'S  JIHST  CALAMITY. 

To  Chicago  was  this  especially  calamitous. 
It  was  a  season  of  mourning  and  desolation, 
and  the  city  with  its  new  charter  starting 
under  such  fair  promises  was  doomed  to  dis- 
appointment at  the  beginning.  There  had 
been  uninterrupted  prosperity  until  now. 
and  this  seemed  ruin.  This  was  the  period 
in  her  annals  known  and  remembered 
as  that  of  protested  notes.  But 
in  this  first  calamity  Chicago  men  showed 
of  what  metal  they  were  made,  and  gave 
an  exhibition  of  that  pluck  and  energy  which 
carried  them  through  tne  greatest  calamity 
that  ever  befell  a  city,  in  later  yeara 

They  returned  to  their  old  avocations  ana 
began  life  anew.  The  consequence  was  that 
things  began  to  brighten  until  1840,  when 
all  was  clear  again,  and  Chicago  in  smooth 
sailing  waters. 

THE  GREAT  FLOOD   OP  '49. 

Another  surprise  to  Chicago  was  a  flood. 
That  the  Chicago  River,  or  either  of  its 
branches,  should  get  up  a  current  sufficient 
to  cause  any  alarm  to  the  citizens  was  a  sur- 
prise to  the  people  then  as  it  would  be  to-day. 
It  was  never  expected,  but  it  came  one 
morning  in  March,  1849.  There  had  been 
two  or  three  days'  heavy  rain  following  the 
heavy  snowstorms,  and  one  morning  the  cit- 
izens" were  aroused  from  their  slumbers  by 
report*  that  the  ice  in  theDesplainesRiver  had 
broken  up  and  dammed  up  the  waters  so  as  to 
turn  them  into  Mud  Lake,  and  from  thence 
into  the  South  Branch.  This  pressure  of 
water  broke  uj-  the  ice  in  the  South  Branch, 
and  floating  down  it  became  gorged  in  the 
main  channel.  Shipping  in  the  river  was 
in  great  peril  Then  came  the  flood. 
The  breaking  up  of  the  ice  was  like  the  boom- 
ing of  artillery,  the  waters  came  sweeping 
down  with  the  power  of  a  mountain  torrent, 
vessels  broke  from  their  moorings  and  went 
with  the  flood,  and  a  number  were  precip- 
itated against  Randolph  street  bridge  with 
such  force  as  to  carry  it  away  and  send  it 
down  the  river.  On  went  the  "great  mass  of 
ice  and  vessels  against  the  iron  bridge  at 
Clark  street,  and  that  too  was  carried  down 
stream.  All  Chicago  attended  this  wild 
scene,  and  such  excitement  had  not  been 
sin  ce  the  city  began  its  eventful  career. 

IN  ASHE3, 

BUT  BAISED   AGAIN  BY  PLUCK. 

In  1871.  when  Chicago  had  become  a  rival 
of  St.  Louis  and  Cincinnati  for  first  position 
in  the  West,  and  when  her  growth  was  the 
one  great  .  surprise  to  the  whole  country, 
there  came  another  surprise,  the  like  of 
which  had  never  been  known.  On  the  night 
of  Oct.  7,  1871,  a  fire  broke  out  near  the 
corner  of  Clinton  and  Van  Buren  streets,  and 
all  the  territory  between  that  and  the  river 
and  Adams  street  was  burned  over. 

It  was  the  greatest  fire  that  had  ever  vis- 
ited Chicago,  but  it  was  soon  forgotten  in 
what  followed.  On  Sunday  night,  Oct.  8, 
the  great  fire,  originating,  it  is  said,  from 
the  lamp  kicked  over  by  Mrs.  O'Leary's 
cow,  began  on  DeKoven  street,  '  a 
little  east  of  Jefferson,  and  for  two 
days  Chicago  was  a  sea  of  flame  and  then  a 


CHICAGO'S   FIEST  HALF  CENTUEY. 


blackened  waste.  To  undertake  to  give  any 
description  of  that  fire  and  the  scenes  which 
accompanied  it  would  be  idle. 

THE    CITY  DOOMED. 

It  was  beyond  all  human  control,  and  as 
well  might  the  inhabitants  of  Sodom  and 
Gomorrah  have  fought  against  their  fate,  as 
for  the  people  of  Chicago  to  try  to  stem  that 
fiery  tide  wnich  rolled  over  their  beautiful 
Garden  Citv.  Before  the  strong  southwest- 
erly wind  the  fire  traveled  with  m.orvolous 
rapidity,  taking  everything  in  its  course. 

Block  after  block  of  buildings  melted  in  a 
moment,  and  when  the  river  -was  reached 
the  flames  leaped  to  the  shipping 
and  to  the  buildings  on  the  South 
Side  as  though  they  were  but  a  few  feet  dis- 
tant, and  built  of  *  tinder-wood  soaked  with 
oil  ready  for  the  lighting.  Then  it  mowed  a 
clean  swath  down  through  the  bugineus  cen- 
ter, taking  in  its  path  the  solid  blocks  of 
•tone  and  iron  which  were  supposed  to  be  fire- 
proof, but  melted  like  wax"  in  the  intense 
heat.  Down  went  the  great  hotels,  fine  stores, 
and  other  immense  buildings,  and  the  old 
bell  in  the  Court  House  tower  sounded  the 
knell  of  that  beautiful  building  as  it  disap- 
peared  in  smoke  and  flame. 

THE  NOETH  SIDE. 

On  to  the  main  channel  of  the  river 
and  then  to  the  North  Side,  where  the 
finest  residence  portion  of  the  city  lay,  when 
such  scenes  as  attended  its  course  were  be- 
yond the  power  of  the  most  graphic  pens  of 
correspondents  of  renown  who  visited  the 
city.  Whole  blocks  were  blown  up.! to 
check  the  fire,  but  without  avail ;  and  when 
the  people  saw  that  it  was  useless  to  try  to 
save  homes  and  tried  to  escape  with  valu- 
ables or  mementoes,  they  were  overtaken  and 
found  it  difficult  to  escape  with  only  their 
lives. 

It  was  a  doomed  city,  and  to  many  it 
looked  as  though  all  must  be  sacrificed,  not 
even  life  excepted.  There  was  fire  on  all 
sides  and  there  seemed  no  way  of  escape,  and 
for  many  there  was  not.  When  this  great 
devourer  of  a  city  and  its  wealth  had  taken 
everything1  in  its  path  from  DeKoven  street 
on  the  West  Side  to  Lincoln  Park  and  the 
city  limits  on  the  North  Side,  there  being 
nothing  more  to  prey  upon,  it  died  away  and 
Chicago  was  in  sackcloth  and  ashes,  partic- 
ularly the  latter. 

MILES  OP  ASHES. 

A  district  more  than  four  miles  long  with 
an  average  width  of  two-thirds  of  a  mile,  and 
containing  more  than  1,700  acres,  with 
17,450  buildings,  and  property 
valued  at  $190,000,000,  had  in 
two  days  been  laid  waste  and 
98,000  people  were  homeless.  Such  was  the 
history  of  the  great  surprise  of  1871  called 
the  Chicago  fira  And  so  great  had  this  been 
that  it  seemed  the  end  of  Chicago.  The 
homeless  people  gathered  in  squads  in  the 
park  and  the  cemetery,  or  out  on  the  prai- 
ries, and  then  followed  the  anxiety  over 
friends.  Families  had  been  separated,  and 
none  knew  what  had  become  of  the  others. 
Then  came  the  joyful  reunions,  but  there 
were  many  among  the  missing.  It  is  esti- 
mated by  those  who  have  made  careful  in- 
vestigations that  over  300  people  lost  their 
lives  "in  that  fire. 

CHICAGO  REBUILT. 

But  the  fire  was  not  to  go  on  record  as  the 
greatest  surprise  in  Chicago  history. 

It  had  been  beyond  what  the  world  had 
ever  known,  but  Chicago  pluck  soon  showed 
•  greater  surprise  in  the  rebuilding.  The 


work  and  the  wealth  of  years  had  disap- 
peared in  a  few  hours,  but  not  so  Chicago — 
Chicago  did  not  consist  in  real  estate,  houses, 
money,  nor  wealth  of  any  kind,  but  in  that 
peculiar  quality  of  her  citizens  called  pluck, 
which  had  lifte'd  a  metropolis  out  of  the  lake, 
and  set  it  upon  a  foundation  of  gramite,  .and 
this  same  Chicaaro  pluck,  before  the  stones 
had  cooled  and  the  coals  died  out,  began  the 
building  of  the  second  Chicago,  lifting 
from  the  ashes  of  millions  of  wealth  the 
grandest  and  most  beautiful  city  in  the  world. 
This  was  the  climax  of  all  Chicago  surprises, 
and  that  it  wilt  ever  be  equaled  in  any  other 
city  is  doubted,  while  to  surpass  it  is  among 
the  impossibilities. 

A  YEAR'S  WORK. 

In  one  year  after  the  fire  the  80,000  feet 
frontage  which  had  been  burned  in  the  South 
Division  was  more  than  half  rebuilt  with 
substantial  stone  and  brick  buildings,  valued 
at  $32,154,700.  and  to  include  buildings  in 
course  of  erection  the  value  would  be  in- 
creased to  $45,500,000.  And  now,  when 
twelve  years  have  passed,  there  is  not  a  mark 
of  the  great  conflagration  left  upon  the 
city  except  in  its  new  magnificence, 
which  stands  out  as  a  monument  of  the 
courage  and  pluck  of  the  men  and  women 
who  saw  it  all  disappear  in  smoke  and 
flame  only  to  resolve  to  more  than  reclaim  it. 
The  inspiration  of  hope  has  been  the  sal- 
vation of  Chicago.  Her  citizens  have  always 
had  good  faith  in  her,  and  this  faith  has  en- 
couraged them  to  dare  and  do,  and  in  that 
chey  have  won.  And  to-day  it  is  a  city  of 
mammoth  business  houses  and  palatial  resi- 
dences covering  an  area  of  thirty-six  square 
miles  or  23,040  acres,  with  651  miles  of 
streets,  50  miles  of  boulevards  and  pleasure 
drive.-,  and  more  than  100  miles  of  street 
railwaya 

THE  SMITHS  AND  BBOWNS. 

The  people  by  the  name  of  Miller  living 
here  now  would  double  the  population  ol 
1833  and  be  200  more  than  the  number 
of  votes  polled  in  all  Cook  County  in  1835. 
The  Smiths,  the  Johnsons,  and  the  Browns 
who  now  get  mixed  up  in  our  city  directory 
more  than  equal  the  entire  population  in 
1835,  when  the  town  had  3,265  inhabitants, 
and  the  Andersons  would  equal  the  emigra- 
tion of  six  months. 

In  numbers  the  city  directory  of  1883 
shows  that  Chicago  has  a  population  of  1,239 
Smiths,  1,433  Johnsons,  955  Browns,  875 
Andersons,  and  795  Millera 

Or  to  make  another  comparison,  the  law- 
yers in  Chicago  now  would  almost  three 
times  outnumber  the  entire  voting  population 
of  Cook  Countv  in  1835,  and  the  doctors  are 
five  times  the  number  of  all  the 
inhabitants,  including  women  and  children, 
in  1833.  The  directory  presents  to  the  man 
who  would  go  to  law  a  list  of  1,469  who  are 
legalized  to  act  as  his  counsel,  and  the  man 
who  needs  a  family  physician  is  perplexed 
when  he  finds  1.016  men  thrusting  their 
sheepskins  under  his  nose  for  examination. 

BATE  OF   INCREASE. 

In  its  first  decade,  from  1833  to  1843, 
Chicago  increased  thirty -seven  times  its  pop- 
ulation, and  in  its  second  decade  gained 
more  than  800  per  cent.  In  the  third  decade 
the  population  increased  over  200  per  cent, 
and  in  the  ten  years  from  1863  to  1873 
more  than  doubled  itself.  In  the  last  de- 
cade the  increase  has  been  almost 
100  per  cent.  When  Chicago  was  a  village 
just  incorporated  as  a  town  of  200  inhab- 
itants. New  York  was  a  city  of  250,000,.and 


16 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


Philadelphia  and  Boston  each  had  100,000 
people.  Even  St  Louis  claimed  to  have 
8.000  people  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  Cincinnati  boasted  of  30,000  as  the 
metropolis  of  the  West 

But  see  how  the  Garden  City  has  out- 
stripped all  these  in  half  a  century's  growth. 
While  in  that  fifty  years  New  York  quad- 
rupled her  population,  Philadelphia  in- 
creased eight  times,  Boston  nearly  four 
times,  Cincinnati  eight  times,  and  St.  Louis 
forty  times,  Chicago  has  increased  in  the 
ratio  of  3,000. 

In  the  last  decade,  from  1870  to  1880, 
New  York's  gain  in  population  was  28  per 


cent,   Philadelphia's  25*2  per  cent,  Boston's    until      .— „     „ 

44  per  cent,  Cincinnati's  87  per  cent,  and  St     was  probably    the    "floating  bridge     some 


there  was  no  bridge  this  grain  would  have 
to  be  sold  in  one  of  the  other 
divisions,  and  it  would  be  the 
means  of  bringing  the  warehouses  from  the 
North  Side.  The  Council  was  evenly  divided, 
but  Messra  Newberry  and  Ogden  made  the 
Catholic  ecclesiastical  authorities  a  present 
of  two  blocks  now  occupied  by  the  cathe- 
dral on  North  State  street,  and  in  this  way 
influenced  legislation  and  secured  the  bridge 
for  the  North  Side. 

THAT  FLOATING  BBIDGE. 

The  first   bridge  was  a  ferry,  it  is  said,  and 
Mark     Beaubien     was     ordered     to    keep 
his      ferry       running        "from        daylight 
dark     without       stopping."       This 


Louis'  not  quite  10  per  cent    Chicago's  gain 
was  277  per  cent. 

Such  is  the  record  of  the  most  wonderful 
city  in  the  world,  and  it  has  been  a  glorious 
surprise  to  all  her  people. 

THE     BRIDGES    AND    TUNNELS. 

AN  EAKLY  PBOBLEM  EASILY   SOLVED. 

The  first  bridge  troubles  in  Chicago  were 
just  the  opposite  of  what  we  have  now. 
Then  the  three  divisions,  were  jealous  of 
each  other,  all  wanting  to  be  the  Chicago  of 
the  future,  and  none  dreaming  that  it  would 
be  large  enough  to  include  them  all  They 
did  not  want  bridges,  because  these  might  be 
the  means  of  letting  some  of  the  business  of 
one  division  escape  to  the  othera 

It  is  said  that  in  1840  the  North  Side 
wanted  a  bridge  at  Clark  street,  and  the  West 
and  South  Sides  both  opposed  it  for  fear  of 
losing  some  of  their  business.  The  North 
Side  had  the  warehouses,  and  most  of  the 
grain  came  from  the  West  and  South.  If 


of  the  early  settlers  speak  of.  It  is  claimed, 
however,  that  Samuel  Miller,  who  lived  at 
the  forks,  built  a  wooden  bridge  over  the 
North  Branch  in  1832  which  could  be  used 
by  foot  passengers.  But  the  bridge  over  the 
South  Branch,  built  in  1832,  has  been  called 
the  first  one.  It  was  of  wood,  and  its  loca- 
tion was  between  Lake  and  Randolph  streets. 
In  1834  the  first  draw  bridge  was  built 
across  the  main  river,  at  Dearborn  street.  It 
was  completed  about  the  1st  of  June,  1834. 
and  the  first  steamboat  that  passed  through 
it  was  the  old  Michigan,  with  a  double  engine, 
commanded  by  Captain  C.  Blake,  and  owned 
by  Oliver  Newberry.  of  Detroit  The  bitter 
feeling  between "  the  North  and  South 
Divisions  was  so  great  during  the  time 
this  bridge  remained  there,  that  the 
Council  at  length  ordered  it  removed.  Then 
came  the  trouble  over  securing  the  Clark 
street  bridga 

BTVEB  SMELLS. 

A  good  story  is  told  of  old  Martin  Casey, 
who  has  been  a  bridge-tender  for  over  thirty 
years.  A  gentleman  of  the  North  Side,  cross- 
ing State  street  bridge,  thought  he  could 
never  wait  on  the  bank  while  a  boat  passed 
and  tried  to  cross,  but  was  late,  and  had  to 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


17 


remain  on  the  bridge  while  turned.  He  re- 
marked to  Casey  that  the  smell  was  bad  that 
day,  and  that  it  mubt  be  unhealthy.  The  old 
bridge-tender  said  yes,  it  was  unhealthy  un- 
til one  got  used  to  it  He  had  in  a  quarter  of 
a  century  got  used  to  it.  and  was  all  right  So 
we  may  conclude  that  however  disagreeable 
these  river  smells  are  they  cannot  be  very 
dangerous  to  the  health  of  the  citizens. 

But  from  the  "floating  bridge"  of  Mark 
Beaubien  and  the  old  foot  bridge  which  was 
used  at  Wolf  Point,  there  has  been  a  great 
change.  Instead  of  fighting  over  the  bridges 
we  are  now  fighting  over  the  lack  of  bridges. 
There  are  now  no  jealousies  and  no  fear  that 
one  division  will  get  more  than  its  share  of 
the  trade.  All  have  enough,  and  the 
thirty-six  bridges  at  every  other  street 
reaching  to  the  river  are  kept  alter- 
nately swinging  for  the  great 
commerce  which  comes  up  the  river  and  the 
masses  of  people  who  are  every  minute 
crossing  them.  The  want  of  the  hour  is 
more  bridges  to  accommodate  the  people,  or 
some  means  of  getting  from  one  division  to 
the  other  without  having  to  wait  for  the 
swinging  of  a  bridge. 

THE    TUNNELS. 

When  the  city  began  to  spread  out  so  that 
it  was  impossible  to  keep  it  in  bounds,  and 
the  great  snipping  interests  began  to  inter- 
fere" with  the  travel  across  the  bridges,  Chi- 
cago enterprise  began  to  talk  of  tunneling, 
and  to  talk  is  to  do  with  Chicago  people.  So 
in  1853  a  company  was  formed,  at  the  head 
of  which  was  Wm.  B.  Ogden,  with  the  object 
in  view  of  constructing  a  tunnel  under  the 
river.  Messrs.  W  m .  Gooding,  E.  F.  Tracy, 
and  Thomas  Clarke,  proposed  plans  for  the 
work  Mr.  Clarke's  was  for  a  structure 
principally  of  iron,  which  the  company  re- 
garded most  favorably,  but  no  decided  steps 
were  taken  then  to  carry  out  any  plan.  The 
elevation  of  the  bridsres  helped  the  land- 
travel  materially  and  "it  was  doubted  if  a 
tunnel  would  be  a  paying  investment  From 
1864  to  1866  various  projects  were  presented 
to  the  City  Council  and  the  Washington 
street  tunnel  was  begun  upon  a  plan  pre- 
pared bv  J.  J.  Gindele.  The  contract  was  let 
to  J.  iL  .bake,  Charles  B.  Farwell,  and  J. 
Clark,  and  the  work  begun  July  25,  1867. 
A  formal  opening  of  the  tunnel  by  Mayor  J. 
B.  Eice  took  place  Jan.  1,  1869.  The  entire 
cost  of  the  "work  to  the  city,  including  all 
preliminary  expenses  up  to  Oct.  31,  1869, 
was  $512, 707. 57. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  need  for  more 
and  better  means  of  travel  between  the 
Soutii  and  West  Divisions,  this  tunnel  has 
not  settled  the  problem,  for  it  has  been  much 
out  of  repair,  so  as  to  make  the  travel  any- 
thing but  pleasant,  and  the  grade  is  too 
much  for  heavily  loaded  teams. 

The  LaSalle  street  tunnel  was  afterward 
built  on  a  similar  plan  and  cost  the  city 
$566,276.48. 

CHURCH    HISTORY. 

THE   FIRST   WHITE   MEN  MISSIONARIES. 

In  her  surprising  success  in  business 
Chicago  has  not  forgotten  that  the  church 
and  school  must  have  front  rank  in  the  ideal 
city.  The  churches  and  schools  have  been 
kept  to  the  front,  and  even  before  we  had  a 
community  of  whites  here  on  the  shores  of 
Lake  Michigan  we  find  the  missionary  and 
the  teacher  at  work  in  the  Indian  settle- 


ment Fathers  Marquette  and  Joliet  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  were  the  first  white 
men  on  -this  soil,  and  there  was  a  mass  said 
before  anything  else  was  done.  The  place 
was  claimed  for  the  church,  and  to  see  the 
spires  which  rise  from  all  over  the  great  city 
now,  pointing  out  where  may  be  found  that 
restful  place  of  communion  with  the  Father 
of  all,  one  would  not  doubt  that  the  church 
still  held  possession,  even  though  some  have 
given  Chicago  the  name  of  the  wickedest 
place  in  the  world. 

CLAIMED  FOB   OHBISTIANITT. 

Other  missionaries  from  the  Catholic 
Church  followed  Marquette,  and  there  also 
came  those  other  pioneers  in  Christian  work, 
the  Methodists,  and  before  there  was  yet  a 
village  we  hear  of  Father  Jesse  Walker  and 
his  school-house,  where  he  lived  in  one  end, 
and  taught  school,  preached,  and  held  class 
meetings  in  the  other.  And  with  the 

farrispn  troops  that  came  to  old  Fort  Dear- 
orn  in  1833  came  also  the  Rev.  Jeremiah 
Porter,  who  opened  the  carpenter  shop  of  the 
fort  as  a  place  for  religious  services,  and,  on 
June  26,  organized  a  church,  and  began  a 
little  building,  which  was  dedicated  the  next 
winter. 

Father  S^  Oyr  came  from  St.  Louis  in  May, 
1833,  and  founded  a  Catholic  church,  and 
began  the  building  of  a  little  house  of  wor- 
ship at  the  corner  of  Madison  street  and  Wa- 
bash  avenue.  This  was  St  Mary's  Church, 
which  last  May  celebrated  its  semi-centen- 
nial. Then  came  the  Rev.  A.  B.  Freeman  for 
the  Baptists,  who  organized  the  first  church 
of  that  denomination  Oct.  19,  1833. 

These  were  the  pioneers  in  religious  work 
in  Chicago,  and  their  work  was  well  begun, 
for  a  great  record  has  been  left  behind. 

THE  FIRST   CHURCH. 

Dr.  John  T.  Temple  built  the  first  meeting 
house  for  religious  worship. 

Dr.  Temple  came  from  Washington  in  the 
summer  of  1833,  and,  upon  his  arrival  here, 
built,  first,  a  house  for  his  family,  and  then  a 
small  wooden  meeting  house  for  the  Baptist 
preacher,  who  was  to  follow  Him  from 
the  East,  to  hold  services  in.  This  house 
stood  at  the  corner  of  Frankiin  and  Water 
streets,  and  is,  with  the  exception  of  Father 
Walker's  log  school-house,  the  first  building 
put  up  for  such  a  purpose.  For  a  time  all 
the  Protestant  people  worshiped  in  this 
house,  the  Rev.  Jeremiah  Porter  and  Mr. 
Freeman  preaching  on  alternate  Sundays, 
and  occasionally  Father  Jessie  Walker 
preached  there.  The  Catholic  church  was 
not  dedicated  until  late  in  the  fall,  and  the 
Presbyterian  church  the  first  of  January  fol- 
lowinbr. 

The  Hon.  John  Wentworth  says  of  his  early 
church-going  in  Chicago,  that  he  was  not 
able  to  sustain  the  expense  of  a  whole  pew, 
and,  in  partnership  with  S.  B.  Cobb,  another 
honored  citizen  of  Chicago  to  this  day,  rented 
a  first-class  one,  payinir  $12.50  a  year. 

THE  PRESBYTERIAN  GROWTH. 

From  this  small  beginning  has  been  a  mar- 
velous growth.  The  little  First  Presbyterian 
Church  established  its  missions,  and  after  a 
time  these  became  strong,  self-sustaining 
churches,  and  when  it  celebrated  its  fiftieth 
birthday  last  June  the  Rev.  Jeremiah  Porter, 
the  pioneer  pastor,  was  there,  and  had  the 
satisfaction  of  seeing  that  instead  of  one  lit- 


18 


CHICAGO'S  FIEST  HALF  CENTUKT. 


tie  organization  with  a  dozen  members  there 
were  more  than  a  score  of  churches  and  six 
missions,  with  about  13,000  members. 

The  denomination  also  has  a  theological 
seminary,  which  is  one  of  the  best  equipped 
in  the  country.  This  institution  was  founded 
in  1830  in  connection  with  Hanover  College 
at  Hanover,  Ind. ,  and  in  1859  was  removed 
to  Chicago.  The  first  faculty  was  composed 
of  Drs.  N.  L.  Kice,  Willis  Lord,  L.  J.  Halsey 
and  W.  M.  Scott.  The  institution  at  first  had 
its  home  in  the  basement  of  the  old  North 
Star  Church,  but  was  finally  located  on  a 
twentv-five-acre  tract  of  land  just  within  the 
city  limits,  and  a  building  put  up  at  the  cor- 
ner of  Fullerton  avenue  and  Halsted  street. 
Other  buildings  have  been  added,  and 
to-day  the  school  has  a  faculty 
of  renowned  professors,  including-  Drs. 


churches  to  twenty,  with  twenty-four  mis- 
sions and  the  membership  will  aggregate 
10,000.  Thev  have  property  valued  at  about 

t  1,000.000  outside  of  the  University  and 
iblical  Institute,  located  at  Evans- 
ton.  Th«  Northwestern  University 
was  organized  by  charter  in  the  year 
1851,  and  in  1855  the  Garrett  Biblical  In- 
stitute was  founded.  Both  are  prosperous 
institutions,  and  every  year  turn  out  large 
classes. 

CONGBEGATIONAUSTS. 

Then  in  later  years  came  the  other  denom- 
inations, which  have  added  greatly  to  the 
Christian  array  of  Chicago.  The  Congrega- 
tionalists  did  not  come  until  1851,  when  an 
offslioot  from  the  Third  Presbyterian  Church 
formed  the  First  Congrega  tionaJL  The  next 
year  the  denomination  had  two  churches, 


THE  FIRST  CHURCH  IN  CHICAGO. 


Sfilnner,  Johnson,  Marquis,  Craisr,  and  Hal- 
sey, all  men  who  stand  as  recognized  au- 
thority in  Biblical  teaching.  There  are  now 
about  fifty  students  in  the  institution  pre- 
paring for  the  work  of  the  ministry. 

The  church  has  also  seen  fit  in  the  last  year 
to  locate  in  Chicago  the  general  committee 
of  the  Assembly  for  the  aid  of  Christian 
colleges  throughout  the  Northwest,  with  Dr. 
Gause  as  Secretary,  having  his  permanent 
headquarters  here. ' 

THE    BAPTISTS. 

The  Baptists  have  now  twenty-six  strong 
churches  and  five  missions  in  place 
of  the  little  wooden  meeting-house  built 
by  Dr.  John  T.  Temple  at  the  corner  of 
Franklin  and  Water  streets  fifty  years  ago. 
These  churches  have  an  aggregate  member- 
ehip  of  about  12,000. 

To  this  denomination  belongs  the  credit  of 
founding  the  Chicago  University,  in  connec- 
tion with  which  the  denomination  had  a  theo- 
logical school  for  many  years,  but  this  was 
removed  to  Morgan  Park  a  few  years  ago, 
where  there  is  a  well  equipped  institution  of 
theology,  well  patronized. 

THE  METHODISTS. 

The     Methodists     have     increased      their 


and  now  it  has  nineteen  and  three  missions, 
with  a  total  membership  of  aoout  11,000.  It 
also  has  one  of  the  finest  equipped  theolog- 
ical schools  in  the  West,  located  at  the  corner 
of  Ashland  and  Warren  avenues.  The 
Chicago  Theological  Seminary  was 
founded  in  1854,  and  to-day  the  estimated 
value  of  its  property  is  about  $400.000.  A 
large  faculty  of  able  scholars  give  char- 
acter to  the  seminary,  and  it  is  justly  very 
popular. 

EPISCOPAL  AND  CATHOLLC. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  organized 
its  first  parish  in  Chicago  in  1834.  This  was 
St.  James'  Parish,  on  the  North  Side,  which 
built  the  first  brick  church  in  Chicago. 

Now  the  church  has  seventeen  parishes,  all 
strong  and  self-supporting.  This  church  has 
done  more  in  the  way  of  Good  Samaritan 
work  in  the  city  than  in  building  up  its  own 
institutions.  St.  Luke's  Hospital  owes  its  ex- 
istence to  the  Episcopal  church. 

The  little  St.  Mary's  Roman  Catholic  Church 
prospered,  and  to-day  that  denomination 
has  forty-five  churches  in  the  city,  and 
the  diocese  has  been  made  an  archdio- 
cese, with  Archbishop  Feehan  at  the  head. 
The  Chicago  churches  have  sent  out  some 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


19 


of  the  ablest  men  to  other  Sees,  and  In 
the  last  year  one  of  the  most  popular  pastors 
was  appointed  Archbishop  coadjutor  of  San 
Francisco.  The  churoh  has  several  schools, 
all  strongly  equipped  and  well  supported. 

OTHER   CHURCHES. 

Of  other  churches  the  Reformed  Episcopal 
has  10,  the  Lutherans  32.  the  Jews  14,  the 
Christians  3,  the  Evangelical  7,  the  Evan- 
gelical Reformed  2,  the  Evangelical 
United  5,  the  Free  Methodists 
2,  the  Dutch  Reformed  2,  the 
Unitarians,  4;  the  Universalists,  5;  the 
Sweden  borgians,  4;  and  there  are  four  in- 
dependent churches  and  thirteen  not  classi- 
fied. 

This  shown  a  strong  armv  for  the  cause  of 
church  in  Chicago.  In  1840  there  were  six 
churches  in  Chicago  for  the  4,479  people 
who  lived  here;  in  1851  there  were  twenty- 
eight  churches  for  28,269  people;  in  1862, 
eighty-four  churches  for  109,260  people;  in 
1870,  187  churches  for  298,977  people;  and 
in  1880.  243  churches  for  503.501  people, 
or  one  church  for  every  2,081  inhabitants. 


PUBLIC     INSTITUTIONS. 


OTJK    EARLIEST    OFFICIALS. 

THE  FIRST  PUBLIC    BUILDING. 

Public  life  in  Chicago  had  a  very  small  be- 
ginning, but,  like  everything  else  planted  in 
the  soil  on  the  lake  shore,  it  grew  rapidly, 
and  it  will  not  be  disputed  that  this  branch  of 
Chicago  has  kept  pace  with  all  the  rest 

We  are  told  that  the  first  public  officer  in 
Chicago  was  John  Kinzie,  whose  commission 
as  Justice  of  the  Peace  bore  date  of  Dec.  2, 
1823;  the  first  "bench"  was  no  doubt  in  the 
old  Kinzie  House,  on  the  North  Side. 

But  the  first  public  building  erected  and 
paid  for  with  the  people's  money  in  Cook 
County  was  an  "estray  pen,"  which  was 
built  in  1832  by  Samuel  Miller,  who  appears 
as  the  first  contractor.  Mr.  Miller  was  a 
County  Commissioner,  one  of  the  first  board, 
but  it  seems  that  his  official  position  did  not 
prevent  his  making  a  bid  and  being  awarded 
the  contract  for  this  first  public  build- 
ing. The  contract  price  was  $20,  but 
because  the  structure  was  not  completed  ac- 
cording to  the  plans  and  specifications  the 
contract  price  was  cut  down  and  only  $12 
paid.  Cook  County  has  not  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  the  first  board  and  cut  down  the 
contract  prices,  but  there  has  been  a  pull  in 
the  other  direction,  and  all  the  trouble  has 
been  over  the  extras  to  be  paid  when  con- 
tractors did  not  fol'ow  the  original  plana 

FIRST   OFFICIALS. 

Mr.  Jonathan  Bailey  was  the  first  Post- 
master, and  John  C.  Hogan  seems  to  have 
been  the  first  Postoffice  clerk.  John  R. 
Clark  is  mentioned  as  the  first  Coroner,  and 
his  first  sitting  was  on  the  body  of  a  dead 
Indian. 

The  Hon.  Isaac  N.  Arnold  was  the  first  City 
Clerk.  The  first  jail  was  of  logs  and  stood 
on  the  northwest  corner  of  the  square  where 
now  stands  the  Court  House  and  City  Hall. 
It  was  built  in  1832.  The  first  man  hung  in 
Cook  County  was  John  Stone,  executed  July 
10,  1840,  for  the  murder  of  Mrs.  Thompson, 


and  his  scaffold  stood  back  of  Myrick's  tav- 
ern, on  the  lake  shore.  Such  was  the  be- 
ginning of  public  life  in  this  city. 

To-day  the  county  has  a  granite  Court 
House  which  cost  $2,248,307,  and  furnished 
at  an  expense  of  over  $100,000.  Now  the 
public  officers  and  employes  of  the  county  in 
the  courts  and  various  Institutions  number 
677,  and  they  cost  the  people  about  $650, 000. 

Uncle  Sam  has  a  goodly  number  of  men 
here  now  in  the  Custom  Hou^e,  Collector's 
office,  revenue  office,  Sub-Treasury,  and 
Postoffice,  who  aad  to  the  public  life.  "Count- 
ing the  Postmaster  and  all  the  men  employed 
in  the  office,  the  collectors  of  customs  and 
internal  revenue  and  all  their  employes,  the 
men  connected  with  the  courts,  the  pension 
office,  the  treasury,  and  the  Marshal's  office, 
there  are  950  men,  and  they  cost  Uncle  Sam 
nearly  $900,000.  The  cost  of  the  new  gov- 
ernment building  where  all  these  officials  are 
engaged  was  about  $4,000,000. 
CHICAGO'S  EXECUTIVES. 

William  B.  Ogden  was  followed  in  the 
Mayor's  chair  by  Buckner  S.  Morris,  Ben- 
jamin W.  Raymond,  Alexander  Lloyd,  Francis  * 
C.  Sherman,  Augustus  Garrett,  Alanson  S. 
Sherman,  John  P.  Chapin,  James  Curtiss, 
James  H.  Woodworth,  Walter  S.  Gurnee, 
Charles  M.  Gray,  Isaac  L.  Milliken,  Leyi  D. 
Boqne,  John  Wentworth,  John  C.  Haines, 
Julian  S.  Rumsey,  John  B.  Rice,  Roswell  B. 
Mason,  Joseph  Medill,  Harvey  D.  Colvin, 
Monroe  Heath,  and  Carter  H.  Harrison. 

A  long  list  of  city  officials  would  follow 
these  to  show  the  number  of  men  who  live 
at  the  city  crib.  In  the  City  Council  we  now 
have  thirty -six  men  instead  of  twelve  as  in 
the  first  council  Counting  the  Mayor,  Al- 
dermen, heads  of  departments,  clerks,  po- 
ice,  and  firemen,  there  are  in  the  city  em- 
ploy 1,405  men,  and  if  the  laboring  men 
employed  in  the  streets  and  other  depart- 
ments of  Public  Works  were  counted,  it 
would  increase  the  number  to  about  4,000 
or  more,  and  the  money  appropriated  by 
the  city  last  year  to  run  the  city  government 
for  twelve  months  was  $4,450,506. 13. 

This  will  give  one  some  idea 
of  the  patronage  Mayor  Harrison 
has,  and  may  explain  how  he  suc- 
ceeds in  being  re-elected,  when  we  under- 
stand that  he  has  between  4,000  and  5,000 
men  electioneering  for  him  who  are  in  his 
own  employ,  besides  the  friends  on  the  out- 
side. 

STARTLING   FIGURES. 

The  figures  are  rather  startling  when  we 
come  to  get  them  together,  showing  that  out-  i 
side  of  the  street  laborers  and  school  teach-  ' 
ers  there  are  3,032  people  in  Chicago  con- 
nected with  the  Federal,   county,*  and  city 
governments,  and  that  the  cost  of  govern- 
ment was  this  last  year   $6,000,506.     But 
this    is    Chicago,    and   nothing  startles  her 
people. 

Chicago  has  been  the  scene  of  some  of  the 
most  remarkable  political  struggles  this 
country  has  ever  known.  It  was  the  place 
selected  for  the  National  Republican  Conven- 
tion of  1860.  when  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
nominated,  which  was  the  first  note  of 
alarm  to  the  South.  Then  in  1864  there  was 
another  memorable  meeting  here  when  the 
Democratic  party  gathered  in  National  con- 
vention and  nominated  as  their  candidate 
for  President  General  McClellan.  In  1868 
the  Republicans  came  to  Chicago  again  on 
May  20  to  nominate  a  candidate  for  Presi- 
dent, and  General  Grant  was  made  the  stand- 
ard bearer.  Then  in  1880  came  tnat  mem- 


20 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


orable  struggle  where  the  third  term  idea 
was  the  bone  of  contention,  and  after  six 
days'  struggle  General  Garfield  was  nomi- 
nated on  the  thirty-sixth  ballot  Each  of 
these  conventions  has  been  followed  by  the 
most  important  events  in  the  history  of  the 
country. 

TELE   POSTOFFICE    THEN    AND  NOW. 

A  FBONTIEB  POSTMASTER 

The  first  record  of  a  postmaster's  appoint- 
ment at  Chicago  is  March  31,  1831,  and 
Jonathan  N.  Bailey,  an  Indian  trader,  opened 
his  office  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  in  the 
store  of  John  S.  C.  Hogan,  at  the  corner  of 
Lake  and  South  Water  streets.  Mr.  Hogan 
was  practically  the  Postmaster,  and  kept  the 
office-  and  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  Black 
Hawk  war,  in  1832,  Mr.  Bailey  left  and  Mr.  Ho- 
gan became  his  successor.  John  Bates,  still  a 
iovial  old  settler  of  Chicago,  who  celebrated 
his  golden  wedding  but  a  few  weeks  ago,  was 
.a  clerk  in  this  store,  and  says  he  kept  the 
postoffice  in  a  candle-box.  The  letters  were 
thrown  into  this  box  loose,  and  whenever 
any  one  came  for  a  letter  they  were  allowed 
to  look  them  over  to  see  if  the  one  wanted 
was  in  the  bunch. 

The  mail  arrived  at  first  twice  a  month, 
and  sometimes  oftener  and  did  not  contain 
more  than  a  dozen  letters  at  any  one 
time.  The  time  of  the  arrival  of  the 
stage-coach  was  not  always  known, 
but  the  driver's  horn  announced 
his  approach  and  the  people  gathered  at  the 
store  to  give  him  a  welcome.  The  Post- 
master would  often  satisfy  the  whole  town 
and  distribute  all  the  mail  then  and  there  by 
calling  out  the  names  as  he  went  over  the 
letters.  When  a  New  York  rjaper  came  it 
was  handed  over  to  some  one  with  a  good 
voice  who  would  read  aloud  to  all  others. 
After  Long  John  Wentworth  came  to  Chi- 
cago he  was  by  common  consent  chosen 
reader  and  perched  upon  a  dry  goods  box 
in  the  Postoffice,  whicn  was  then 
on  Franklin  street,  at  the  corner  of  Water,  he 
read  to  those  who  gathered  around  him,  and 
they  then  discussed  politics  or  whatever 
happened  to  be  uppermost  in  the  minds  of 
the  people  It  was  here  Long  John  had  his 
first  lessons  in  public  speaking. 

FBANKING  LOVE-LETTEBS. 

In  those  days  the  postage  had  not  been  re- 
duced to  2  cents,  and  every  missive  sent 
through  the  mails  cost  the  sender  25  cents. 

Long  John  tells  a  story  of  how 
he  franked  letters  for  a  Chicago 
lover  to  hie  sweetheart  in  New  Jer- 
sey, whilrf  a  Congressman.  The  young  man 
would  write  to  Mr.  Wentworth,  and  of  course 
the  letters  went  free  to  the  Congressman, 
who  then  wrote  to  the  young  lady,  frankf ng 
his  letters,  of  course.  In  this  way  the  cor 
respondence  was  carried  on  for  one  winter, 
until  his  friends  at  Washington  began  to 
wonder  when  Mr.  Wentworth  was  to  be  mar- 
.  ried  to  the  New  Jersey  girl.  Then  he  advised 
the  young  man  to  get  married,  as  he  could 
not  frank  any  more  letters  in  that  way. 

THE   MODEBN   POSTOFFICE. 

This  was  the  postoffice  of  Chicago  fifty 
years  ago.  The  candle  box  of  that  time  has 
several  thousand  as  commodious  private 
boxes  in  the  first  floor  of  the  new  Govern- 
ment Building  to  take  its  place,  and  instead 
of  the  citizens  assembling  at  the  office  to 
greet  the  carrier,  the  carrier  now  comes 
to  their  doors,  bringing  their  letters 


from  friends  and  their  papers 
ready  for  breakfast.  And  the  office,  which 
cost  Uncle  Sam  $300  when  Chicago  was  in- 
corporated a  city  in  1*37.  last  year  re- 
quired $613,552  to  pay  its  running  expenses, 
but  its  earnings  were  nearly  three  times  this 
amount  or  $1,959,902  for  the  fiscal  year 
ending  June  30,  1883.  The  balance  of  $1,- 
343,350  was  turned  over  to  the  depart- 
ment. And  instead  of  one  man  looking  after 
the  mail,  tending  store,  and  running-  a  har- 
ness shop,  as  old  John  Bates  said  was  the 
case  in  1833,  there  are  now  723  men  be- 
sides the  Postmaster  looking  after  the  letters 
and  other  mail  matter  which  comes  to  Chi  - 
cago.  Of  this  number  432  are  clerks,  252 
are  carriers,  and  twenty-eight  are  in  the 
money  order  department.  There  are  made 
751  delivery  trips  daily  and  580  collection 
trips. 

THE   LETTERS   WE   WBITE. 

And  what  is  more,  these  men  are  all  kept 
busy.  On  an  average  the  Chicasro  Postoffice 
sends  out  3,200  pounds  of  first-class  mail 
matter,  or  192, 000  letters  every  day  in  the 
week  except  Sunday,  or  one  letter  for  about 
every  other  man,  woman,  and  child  in  the 
city.  That  shows  that  the  people  are  intel- 
ligent and  know  how  to  read  and  write. 

In  a  year  the  Chicago  people  use  up  over 
500  tons,  or  1,001,600  pounds,  of  letter  pa- 
per and  send  out  to  their  friends  in  other 
parts  of  the  world  70,096,000  letters,  which 
require  $1,401,820  worth  of  2-cent  stamps 
to  carry  them. 

But  this  is  not  all  Chicago  people  also 
send  out  1,300  pounds,  or  65.000  circulars 
every  day,  or  20,345.000  every  year,  which 
cost  them  $650  a  day,  or  $203,450  a  year 
for  stamps. 

Then  of  second-class  matter  as  newspapers 
there  are  sent  out  every  year  7,090,389 
pounds  or  3, 545  tons,  or,  to  be  more  explicit. 
21,271,167  papers  every  year.  And  of  third 
and  fourth-class  matter  "there  was  mailed  in 
Chicago  last  year  3,867.282  pounds,  or  19,- 
336,410  m'eces.  This  included  articles  of 
merchandise,  such  as  silks  and  laces  bought 
for  country  cousins,  watches  for  the  boys  on 
the  farm,  and  jewelry  for  sweethearts  at 
home. 

AHEAD    OF  BOSTON. 

It  should  be  mentioned  here  that  last  year, 
according  to  the  report  of  the  Postmaster 
General,  Chicago  ranked  second  in  the 
amount  of  second-class  matter  sent  out 
through  the  mails,  and  that  only  New  York  is 
ahead  in  the  number  of  newspapers 
and  periodicals  mailed.  We  stand 
far  ahead  of  that  city  of 
culture,  Boston,  where  it  is  supposed  by 
many  all  the  literature  of  this  country  is 
produced.  We  also  outrank  Philadelphia 
and  all  other  cities  of  the  country,  with  the 
exception  of  New  York. 

Chicago  receives  mail  also,  about  115,000 
letters  every  day,  and  about  10.000  circulars. 
This  would  make  35.995,000  letters  and 
3,130,000  circulars  received  by  Chicago  peo- 
ple in  one  year.  As  for  newspapers  and  par- 
cels, we  don't  receive  so  much  as  we  send 
out,'  for  what  could  the  outside  world  send  to 
Chicago  that  would  be  new  and  interesting? 
But  we  do  not  object  to  exchange  with  our 
friends  on  the  outside,  and  as  a  result  we  get 
about  five  tons  or  10,000  pounds  or  60,000 
pieces  every  day,  or  18,780,000  a  year. 

In  addition  to  this  the  Postofnce  in  one 
month  issued  $118.455.55  in  domestic 
money  orders  and  $39,337  in  foreign  orders, 
and  paid  $650,748  domestic  orders  and 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUKY. 


21 


$10,125  foreign.  The  sale  of  stamps  for  a 
month  amounted  to  $183,6.46.82.  and  the 
first  month  of  the  postal  notes  $1,977  was 
issued  and  $62,496  paid. 

In  this  great  change  in  the  condition  of 
affairs  in  fifty  years  the  Chicago  Postofflce 
has  not  always  had  clear  sailing.  The  great 
fire  of  1871  drove  them  out  of  their  home, 
Out  at  the  risk  of  life  the  men  saved  the 
mail,  and  again  in  1879,  when  the  fire  drove 
them  from  the  Honore  .Building,  they  again 
risked  life  to  save  the  missives  intrusted  to 
their  care. 

THE  WATERWORKS. 

HOW  AND  BY  WHOM  THEY  WERE  BUILT. 

The  first  waterworks  in  Chicago  were  as 
near  like  those  of  to-day  as  Mark  Beaubien's 
"floating  bridge"  was  like  the  great  iron 
swinging  bridges  that  cross  the  Chicago 
Eiver  at  every  important  street.  The  primi- 


tive inches  for  the  main  lines  and  three  inches 
for  the  subordinate  ones. 

FIRST    CITY  WORKS. 

Feb.  15,  1851.  the  Chicago  City  Hydraulic 
Company  was  approved  by  act  or  the  Legis- 
lature, and  John  B.  Turner,  A.  S.  Sherman, 
and  H.  G.  Loomis  were  appointed 
to  constitute  the  first  Board  of 
Water  Commissioners.  William  McAlpine 
was  employed  as  engineer,  and  submitted 
plans  by  which  works  were  constructed  on 
the  lake  shore  near  Chicago  avenue.  A  well 
on  the  shore  was  connected  with  the  lake  by 
a  supply  pipe  and  from  this  the  engines 
pumped  the  water,  forcing  it  into  the  reser- 
voir in  the  South  Division. 

In  February,  1854,  water  was  first  intro- 
duced into  the  houses.  The  reservoir  was  at 
the  corner  of  Adams  and  Clark  streets  and 
was  calculated  to  hold  500,000  gallons  of 
water. 

Two     other  reservoirs     were     afterward 


THE    OLD    WATERWORKS. 


tive  ferry  answered  the  purpose  of  getting 
the  people  across  the  river,  and  so  did  the 
water  carts  in  early  daj^s  supply  the  people 
with  water.  The  carts  were  driven  into  the 
lake  and  filled.  Then  the  water  was  peddled 
to  the  towns-people. 

In  1836  the  "Chicago  Hydraulic  Company" 
was  incorporated  by  the  State  Legislature, 
with  a  capital  stock  of  $250,000. 
Owing  to  the  financial  difficulties 
of  the  succeeding  year  the  company 
was  not  formed  until  1839,  and  work  was 
not  begun  until  1840.  A  reservoir  was  built 
at  the  corner  of  Lake  street  and  Michigan 
avenue,  about  twenty-five  feet  square  and 
eight  feet  deep,  elevated  about  eighty  feet 
above  the  ground.  A  pump  was  also  erected, 
connecting  by  an  iron  pipe  with  the  lake. 
This  pump  was  worked  by  a  steam  engine  of 
twenty-five-horse  power.  The  water  was 
distributed  to  the  citizens  through  logs  bored 


built  in  the  North  and  West  Divisions.  But 
the  first  man  to  conceive  and  perfect  the 
plan  by  which  Chicago  obtains  the  finest 
water  of  any  city  in  the  world  was  E.  S 
Chesbrough. 

TUNNELING   THE  LAKE. 

As  City  Engineer,  in  1863,  he  suggested  the 
plan  to  take  the  water  from  about  two  miles 
east  of  the  pumping  works,  where  the  lake 
is  supposed  never  to  be  affected  by  impuri- 
ties from  the  river,  and  bring  it  in  a  brick 
tunnel  to  the  works,  where  it  might  be  dis- 
tributed to  the  city.  Notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  this  was  looked  upon  as  visionary 
and  impossible,  the  necessary  legislation  was 
secured  in  September,  1863,  and  the  contract 
for  building  the  great  tunnel  let  for  $315,- 
139.  The  work  was  bes-un  March  17,  1864, 
and  the  last  brick  laid~Dec.  6,  1866.  This 
tunnel  is  five  feet  in  diameter,  two  miles 
long,  and  will  deliver  37,000,000  gallons  of 
water  daily. 

A  similar  tunnel    was  afterward,  marie  to 


22 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


the  West  Side  pumping  works  at  the  corner 
of  Blue  Island  and  Ashland  avenues. 

It  is  six  miles  long,  and  passes  under  and 
across  the  entire  city. 

THE  CRIB. 

July  25,  1865,  the  giant  crib  for  the  ea«t 
end  of  the  tunnel  was  launched,  and,  after 
being  towed  out  to  its  destination,  was  sunk. 

It  is  forty  feet  high  and  ninety-eight  feet 
in  diameter.  It  is  built  of  logs  one  foot 
square,  and  consists  of  three  walls  eleven 
IVet  upart,  leaving  a  central  space  twenty- 
five  feet  in  diameter,  within  which  is  fixed 
the  iron  cylinder  running  from  the  water 
line  of  the  crib  to  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel, 
sixty-four  feet  below.  This  crib  contains 
750*000  feet  of  lumber,  150  tons  of  iron 
bolts,  and  is  filled  with  4.500  tons  of  stone. 

In  1869  a  new  lake  tunnel  was  built,  and 
the  capacity  of  the  two  is  150,000.000  gal- 
lons daily. 

The  largest  engine  in  the  world  is  one  of 
the  four  that  Dumps  this  water  from  the  tun- 
nel and  distributes  it  to  the  city.  This  was 
built  at  an  expense  of  $200,000.  and  at  each 
stroke  it  pumps  2,750  gallons  of  water.  It 
is  of  1,200  horse  power,  with  a  fly-wheel 
twenty-sis  feet  in  ammeter.  The  four  en- 
gines combined  are  equal  to  3,000  horse 
power. 

When  the  fire  of  1871  swept  away  the 
works  the  water  supply  was  cut  off,  but  al- 
most before  the  sto"nes  were  cold  the 
pumps  were  put  in  motion  again,  and  Chi- 
cago was  spared  the  misery  of  a  water 
famine. 

Last  year  the  city  used  24,150,943,884 
gallons  of  water  as  against  15,346,922,158 

fallens  in  1876,  which  shows  an  increase  of 
,804,021,727  gallons  in  six  yeara 
The  expense  of  running  the  pumping  works 
last  year  was  $162,483,  and  the  average 
amount  of  water  pumped  daily  was  66,166,- 
969  gallons.  During1  the  year  over  thirty 
miles  of  water  pipe  were  laid,  making  a  total 
of  525  miles  of  uipe  in  the  city.  The  receipts 
of  the  water  office  for  the  year  were  nearly 
$1,500,000,  and  the  total  revenue  since 
1861  is  about  $15,000,000,  while  the  ex- 
penditures in  the  same  time  amounted  to 
nearly  $12,000,000. 

THE  CANAL. 

COMMUNICATION  WITH  THE  INTERIOR. 

In  1836  there  were  two  important  events 
in  Chicago.  One  was  the  location  of  a  branch 
of  the  State  bank  here,  and  the  other  the 
ceremony  of  breaking  the  first  ground  for 
the  Illinois  and  Michigan  CanaL 

The  latter  event  was  of  vital  importance  to 
Chicago,  and  may  be  looked  upon  as  one  of 
the  principal  agents  in  pushing  the  city  into 
prominent  notice  before  the  world.  The 
railroads  had  not  yet  been  thought  of  in  this 
country,  and  the  proposition  to  build  a  water 
way  from  Lake  Michigan  to  the  Mississippi 
was  a  grand  scheme  which  attracted  atten- 
tion everywhere.  This  would  enable  the 
pioneers  of  the  West  to  pour  their  wealth  into 
the  lap  of  the  East,  and  would  establish  easy 
communication  between  the  two  sections  of 
the  country.  It  was  a  grand  undertaking, 
and  the  original  plan  has  not  yet  been  fully 
carried  out,  and  will  not  be  until 
the  Hennepin  Ship  Canal  is  constructed, 


and  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal 
widened  and  deepened  so  as  to  permit  large 
vessels  from  the  lakes  to  pass  through  to  the 
Mississippi  River.  This  was  proposed  nearly 
a  century  ago,  when  emigrants  began  to  "go 
West"  on  the  Ohio  River. 

THE   RIGHT   OP  WAT. 

In  1822  Congress  granted  to  Illinois  the 
right  of  way  across  the  public  lands  from 
Chicago  to  LaSalle  for  canal  purposes,  hav- 
ing before  obtained  a  strip  of  land  for  that 
purpose  by  treaty.  A  belt  of  land  ninety  feet 
wide  on  each  side  of  the  canal  for  its  use  was 
at  the  same  time  donated  by  Congress  to  the 
State  of  Illinois.  In  1827  Congress  donated 
alternate  sections  of  land  five  miles  wide  on 
each  side  of  the  canal,  the  proceeds  of  the 
sale  of  which  were  to  be  applied  to  the  con- 
struction of  the  canai. 

William  P.  Thornton,  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard, 
and  W.  B.  Archer  were  appointed  Canal  Com- 
missioners, with  power  to  locate  a  route 
and  proceed  with  the  work.  William  Good- 
ing  was  chief  engineer.  In  May,  1836,  Mr. 
Hubbard  was  able  to  present  two  plans  for 
the  work  to  Governor  Duncan,  One  of  these 
was  for  a  ship  canal  and  the  otner  of  less 
dimensiona  The  former  was  adopted,  and 
in  June  the  bids  for  the  work  were  adver- 
tised for.  July  4,  1836,  the  first  ground 
was  broken  for  the  work  at  Lockport  and 
Bridgeport,  as  now  called.  It  was  a  great 
day  for  Chicago,  and  was  so  celebrated.  All 
Chicago  went  to  Bridgeport  to  see  the  first 
sod  turned  in  this  work. 

WORK  BEGUN. 

The  work  on  the  canal  was  commenced 
immediately,  and  up  to  January,  1839,  over 
$1,400,000  was  expended.  In  1841  the 
work  was  stopped,  and  in  1842  Arthur 
Bronson,  of  New  York,  W.  B.  Ogiien,  Justin 
Butterneld,  and  Isaac  N.  Arnold  held  a  coun- 
cil, and  made  a  proposition  to  turn  over  the 
canal  to  the  stockholders  until  they  were  paid. 
A  bill  adopting  this  plan  passed  the  Legis- 
lature, and  the  canal  was  finished  in  1848, 
and  the  last  of  the  debts  paid  May  1,  1871. 
In  1865  the  City  Council  of  Chicago,  wishing 
to  get  rid  of  sewage  by  means  of  the  canal, 
donated  $2, 500, 000  to  deepen  the  canal  so 
that  the  waters  of  Lake  Michigan  would  flow 
continuously  up  the  South  Branch  from  the 
mouth,  and  "through  the  canal  to  the  Illinois 
River.  This  work  was  finished  in  July,  1871. 
After  the  great  fire  the  State  Legislature  re- 
funded to  Chicago  the  money  she  had  donated 
for  this  public  work. 

STREET     RAILWAYS. 

EARLY   MODES  OF    LOCOMOTION. 

It  is  said  that  Chicago  turned  out  in  pro- 
cession when  Colonel  J.  B.  Beaubien  brought 
the  first  two-wheeled  pleasure  carriage  to 
the  town,  and  when  Philo  Carpenter  and  his 
bride  drove  down  LaKe  street  one  day  in  tne 
summer  of  1834,  it  was  an  event  not  second 
in  importance  to  the  coming  of  the  first  lo- 
comotive fifteen  years  later,  or  the  advent 
of  street  cars  in  1859.  The  "one-hoss 
shay"  and  the  two-wheeled  pleasure  car- 
riage of  Colonel  Beaubien  have  long  since 
gone,  and  to-day  all  Chicago,  without  re- 
gard to  condition  in  life  or  purpose  in  view, 
goes  by  street  car.  The  millionaire  and  the 
boot-black  have  like  opportunities  for  hang- 


CHICAGO'S  FlEST  HALF  CEN1W2. 


ing1  on  by  the  eyebrows,  and  the  society  belle 
and  the  scrub-woman  are  crushed  together 
in  a  heap  in  these  most  democratic  of  insti- 
tutions. 

Chicago  goes  to  business  and  to  the  theater 
and  rides  more  than  twice  around  the  globe 
every  twenty-four  hours.  The  witch  that 
Mother  Goose  sent  on  a  journey  to  the  moon, 
and  the  man  that  Jules  Vernes  sent  to  the 
same  place  in  a  bomb  fired  from  a  mortar, 
could  go  by  quicker  time  in  a  Chicago  street 
car,  if  all  in  use  were  used  as  relays  and 
stationed  so  as  to  get  the  aggregate  miles 
traveled,  in  a  direct  line. 

IF   ST.    LOUIS   WERE  A   SUBUKB. 

And  the  number  of  passengers  these  cars 
carry  every  day  would  be  equal  to  the  entire 
population  of  St.  Louis,  so  that  it  would  not 
be  difficult  to  make  that  town  a  suburb  to 
Chicago,  carrying  every  man,  woman,  and 
child  into  town  every  day.  The  cars  in  a 
blockade  would  extend  from  State  street  to 
Oak  Park. 

But  Chicago  people  did  not  always  have 
street  cars  to  depend  upon.  In  1833  they 
walked,  and  had  no  difficulty  in  going  from 
the  business  quarter  to  the  residence  part  of 
the  town,  except  to  get  over  some  of  the 
sloughs. 

It  is  just  a  quarter  of  a  century  since  the 
first  street-car  track  was  laid  on  State  street 
from  Lake  to  Madison.  That  was  the  begin- 
ning made  by  the  Chicago  City  Eailway  Com- 
pany in  the  fall  of  1858.  There  were  no  cars 
run,  and  the  short  track  was  but  a  promise 
of  what  would  be.  The  next  spring  a  single 
track  was  completed  to  Twelfth  street,  and 
on  May  day  the  first  car  was  run  over  this. 
It  was  an  important  event  even  at  that  time 
in  Chicago's  history.  The  company  had  five 
cars  built  at  Detroit,  four  of  them  for  two 
horses,  and  one  for  one  horse.  The  schedule 
running  time  was  twelve  minutes.  In  July, 
1859,  the  company  completed  its  track  to 
Nineteenth  street,  and  a  few  weeks  later  to 
Twenty-second  street,  and  along  that  street 
to  Cottage  Grove  avenue,  and  on  that  to 
Thirty-first  street. 

THE  UNITED  STATES  FAIB. 

In  1860  the  United  States  Fair  was  held  in 
Chicago,  and  from  Adams  street  to  Cottage 
Grove  avenue  the  line  was  made  double 
track.  The  line  on  Cottage  Grove  avenue 
and  that  on  State,  north  of  Adams  street, 
were  left  single  track.  In  1859  the  lines 
reaching  to  the  West  Side  were  begun  and  a 
track  laid  on  Madison  street  to  Bull's  Head, 
where  the  Washingtonian  Home  now  stands. 
In  1860  a  double  track  was  laid  on  Randolph 
street  west  as  far  as  Ann,  and  from  there  to 
the  stables,  at  the  corner  of  Madison  street 
and  Ogden  avenue,  a  single  track  was  laid. 

The  car  stables  were  first  at  the  corner  of 
Randolph  and  State  streets,  where  the  Central 
Music  Hall  now  stands.  In  1861  the  car 
stables  were  burned,  and  nine  horses  and 
eight  cars  were  destroyed  by  the  fire.  This 
was  tne  first  street-car  history  in  Chicago.  It 
was  then  in  the  hands  of  one  company. 

In  1860  the  North  Chicago  line  was  built  by 
another  company,  and  opened  Aug.  26  the 
same  year.  There  was  a  double  track  on 
Clark  street  from  Kinzie  street  to  Division, 


and  a  single  track  to  the  city  limits  at  Fuller- 
ton  avenue. 

The  company  had  six  cars  and  forty  horses, 
and  ran  the  cars  every  twelve  minutes.  In 
that  first  year  the  company  carried  727,476 
passengers.  Now  they  carry  48.000  passen- 
gers every  day.  or  15,000,000  last  year. 

ON  THE   WEST  SIDE. 

In  1863  the  West  Division  Company 
was  organized  and  purchased  from  the 
City  Railway  Company  its  interests 
on  the  West  Side,  and  also  certain  fran- 
chises in  the  South  Division.  When  the 
company  started  it  had  eleven  cars;  six  on 
Randol  n  street,  running  everv  twelve  min- 
utes to  Ann  street  and  every  twenty-four 
minutes  through  to  Bull's  Head.  There 
wemfive  cars  on  Madison  street,  running  to 
Bull's  Head  every  fifteen  minutes,  and 
through  to  Western  avenue,  where  the  beer 
gardens  were  then  located,  everv  half  hour. 
The  track  from  Bull's  Head  to  Western  ave- 
nue was  a  single  one. 

The  beginning  was  not  very  great,  but 
like  everything  else  in  Chicago  it  has  had  a 
surprising  g'rowth.  Chicago  has  become  a 
city  of  street  cars,  and  there  is  no  city  in  the 
world  where  they  are  so  much  depended 
upon.  Everybody  rides  in  these  cars,  and 
better  humored  crowds  could  not  be  found 
anywhere  than  are  packed  together  in  them. 

The  crowds  carried  down  town  every 
morning  and  all  through  the  day  are  one  of 
the  best  indications  of  the  growth  of  Chi- 
cago. There  are  now  on  every  down-town 
street  where  car  lines  can  be  laid  to  advan- 
tage as  many  cars  as  can  be  handled,  and 
yet  not  enough  to  carry  the  people  who  want 
to  ride. 

HOW  THE   CABS  ABE  HANDLED. 

With  all  the  lines  centering  within  a  radius 
of  four  blocks  it  gives  little  space  for  the 
handling  of  1,414  cars.  For  the  West 
Division  alone  there  must  be  226  cars 
switched  and  sent  out  every  hour,  which  is 
one  car  starting  to  the  "West  Side  every 
quarter  second.  To  the  South  Side  the  time 
is  almost  as  quick,  and  bat  little  slower  for 
the  North  Side. 

A  conductor  on  a  box-car  says  "a  load"  is 
about  eighty-five  people.  In  that  case  at  the 
busy  time  of  the  day,  when  people  are  going 
home  in  the  evening,  the  West  Side  cars 
would  carry  nearly  20,000  people  in  an  hour. 

As  to  the  miles  of  track  in  Chicago,  there 
are  fifty-seven  miles  in  the  South  Division, 
thirty-five  miles  double  track  in  the  West 
Division,  and  fifteen  miles  double  track  and 
two  miles  single  track  in  the  North  Division. 
Over  these  tracks  the  South  Division  run  300 
cars,  and  send  them  out  every  two  minutes 
on  the  State  street  and  Cottage  Grove  avenue 
lines.  There  are  100  grip  cars  and  200 
passenger  cars,  and  they  make  an  average  of 
eight  trips  every  day.  The  cable  system  is 
equal  to  2,070  horses,  and  there  are  1,000 
horses  used  on  the  extensions. 

In  the  West  Division  there  are  lines  of 
double  track  on  Madison,  Randolph,  Lake, 
Van  Buren,  Halsted,  Canal,  Indiana,  Clinton, 
Jefferson,  and  Twelfth  streets,  and  Cali- 
fornia, North,  Milwaukee,  Chicago,  Ogden, 
Western,  and  Canal  port  avenues,  and 
over  these  run  563  cars,  with  3.038  horses. 
They  make  2,738  round  trips  and  travel  20,- 
500  miles  every  day. 

THE  TIME   SCHEDULE. 

On  Madison  street  the  cars  run  every 
minute  and  a  half,  on  Van  Buren  every  two 
and  a  half  minutes;  on  Milwaukee  avenue 
Indiana  street,  Blue  Island,  and  South  Hal. 


24 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


sted  streets,  every  three  minutes;  on  Lake 
and  Randolph  streets  and  Ogden  avenue, 
every  four  minutes,  and  on  Chieasro  avenue, 
Twelfth,  and  Canal  streets,  every  five  minutes. 

The  lowest  estimate  the  conductors  give 
for  a  round  trip  is  sixty  passengers,  and  at 
this  rate  they  would  carry  every  day  170.280 
passengers. 

The  North  Division  have  251  cars,  of 
which  100  are  summer  or  open  cars,  and 
1,375  horses.  The  cars  travel  about  10.000 
miles  a  day  and  carry  about  48,000  pas- 
sengers. That  was  the  average  for  ten 
months  of  the  last  year.  In  October  the  line 
reported  39,103  trips,  of  which  38,124  were 
in  the  city  limits  and  the  others  on  the  single 
track  to  Graceland. 

In  the  South  Division  the  cars  trave.1  20,- 
000  miles  a  day.  This  gives  an  aggregate  of 
50,000  miles  traveled  by  the  Chicago  street 
cars  every  day,  a  distance  equal  to 
twice  the  circumference  of  the  globe. 

As  to  the  number  of  people  who  ride  it 
might  be  said  that  all  Chieasro  goes  by  this 
means  of  travel.  Not  all  the  citizens  go  down 
town  every  day,  but  a  careful  estimate 
makes  the  cars  in  the  three  divisions  carry 
not  less  than  318,000  passengers  every  day. 

THE   CABLE   SYSTEM. 

In  the  South  Division  the  cars  in  solid 
trains  move  through  the  streets  without 
visible  power  of  locomotion,  the  wonder  of 
all  visitors  and  many  residents.  The  motor 
is  hid  from  view,  and  even  when  it  is  ex- 
plained that  under  the  ground  are  miles  of 
endless  iron  cables  which  propel  the  cars, 
one  cannot  believe  it  until  he  visits  the  shops 
and  sees  the  cables  coming  in  from  their  un- 
derground passageways  and  encircling  the 
great  drive  wheels  put  in  motion  by  the 
ponderous  engines. 

This  cable  system  was  an  experiment  in 
Chicago,  although  it  had  been  proven  a  suc- 
cess in  California  before  undertaken  here.  It 
was  an  experiment  here  for  the  reason 
that  it  had  never  been  operated  w.here  there 
were  severe  winters  and  much  snow  and  ice. 
The  experiment  was  tried,  however,  and  cost 
over  $3,000,000,  but  it  has  been  demon- 
strated a  complete  success.  To  explain  the 
system  in  detail  would  be  useless  without  a 
demonstration  at  the  shops.  It  may  be  said, 
simply,  that  this  system  consists  in  moving 
cars  by  means  of  an  underground  endless 
cable.  This  cable  passes  over  iron  pulleys  in 
an  arched  trench  under  the  track,  and  at 
each  termination  of  the  line  passes  round  a 
large  pulley  which  carries  it  from  one  track 
to  the  other.  At  the  shops,  located 
at  Twentieth  street,  all  the  cables 
pass  in  and  around  the  drive  wheels 
which  give  them  their  motion.  These  cables 
travel  continuously  at  a  rate  of  eight  miles 
an  hour,  and  furnish  the  locomotive  power 
for  the  cars  by  means  of  a  grip.  The  grip- 
car  has  a  lever  reaching  from  the  center 
down  through  the  bottom  and  the  slot  or 
small  opening  cf  the  track  that  contains  the 
cable.  On  the  end  of  the  lever  is  a  grip  or 
lever  slide  which  can  be  made  to  take  hold 
of  the  cable  by  means  of  a  smaller  lever  at- 
tached. When  the  driver  gets  his  signal  to 
start  he  moves  his  lever  so  that  the  jaws  of 
the  grip  come  together  on  the  cable  and  he 
is  carried  forward.  When  he  receives  the 
signal  to  stop  he  moves  the  lever  so  as  to 
loosen  tbe  grip  and  applies  the  brake.  The 
cable  moves  through  the  loose  grip  and  the 
car  stops. 

The  cable  system  has  been  put  in  the  State 
and  Wabash  and  Cottage  Grove  lines,  and  is  a 


great  success.  It  saves  time  and  horseflesh, 
is  a  smaller  roadbed,  and  any  number  of  cars 
desired  can  be  carried  in  solid  trains. 

THE    CHICAGO    CITY    KArLKOAD    CO. 

THE   CABLE   SYSTEM. 

New  enterprises  which  are  predicated  upon 
new  ideas  with  which  the  general  public  is 
not  familiar,  are  almost  always  destined  to 
receive  more  or  less  unfriendly  criticism. 
The  critics  are  almost  invariably  ignorant  of 
the  subject  concerning  which  they  are  so 
free  to  pass  opinions,  and  itnotunfrequently 
happens  that  the  theory  or  project  which 
was  assailed  the  most  remorselessly  in  its  in- 
ception, in  the  end  attains  a  high  degree  of 
popularity  and  its  most  violent  enemies 
finally  become  its  warmest  and  most  out- 
spoken friends. 

The  foregoing  general  statement  is  espe- 
cially applicable  to  all  railroad  enterprises 
which  contemplated  any  departure  from 
some  old  humdrum  notion,  from  the  date  of 
George  Stevenson's  first  experiments  with 
the  locomotive  engine  to  the  present  day. 
Railroads  in  the  abstract  were  severely 
frowned  upon  by  the  wise  men  (?)  in  silver- 
bowed  spectacles  of  fifty  years  ago,  and  after 
the  irresistible  logic  of  events  had  demon- 
strated that  the  locomotive  was  superior  to 
the  gentle  mule  as  a  moving  power,  and  a 
Pullman  palace  car  was,  all  tilings  consid- 
sidered,  a  preferable  conveyance  to 
the  old  Concord  stage  coach  or 
the  lumber  wagon  of  the  rural 
districts,  every  attempted  advance  in 
the  methods  of  railroading  has  had  to  en- 
counter a  certain  amount  of  stupid  opposi- 
tion, and  too  frequently  also  from  sources 
whence  stupidity  was  unexpected  and  inex- 
cusable. The  "cable  road,"  as  it  is  popularly 
known  in  Chicago,  has  had  its  unpleasant 
experiences  in  the  direction  above  indicated, 
but,  like  all  really  meritorious  enterprises, 
it  has  survived  malicious  slander,  ignorant 
censure,  and  spiteful  innuendo,  and  is  to-day 
one  of  the  acknowledged  great  successes  of 
this  city  of  successes.  Many  of  the  prop- 
erty-owners along  the  great  thoroughfares 
through  which  this  system  of  passen- 
ger transportation  runs,  were  almost 
laughably  apprehensive  three  years  ago  that 
these  streetcars  moved  by  an  unseen 
power — which  was  apparently  under  perfect 
control,  nevertheless — were  rather  "spook- 
ish"  in  their  nature,  and  were  destined  in 
some  occult,  unexplained,  and  unexplainable 
way  to  destroy  or  seriously  imnair  the  value 
of  their  real  possessions;  but  these  same  men 
are  now  ready  to  admit,  with  the  frankness  of 
true  Chicagoans — wno  are  never  afraid  to 
say  that  they  were  wrong  when  fairly  con- 
vinced of  the  fact — that  this  same  system  of 
street  railroads  has  advanced  the  value  of 
their  property  from  100  to  200  per  cent 
This  sounds  like  an  exaggerated 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUBY. 


25 


statement,  but  the  writer  is  satisfied  that  it 
is  substantially  true.  A  sound  reason 
for  this  is  not  hard  to  find  by  any  thinker. 
A  city  of  the  territorial  extent  of  Chicago — 
inhabited  by  people  whose  distinctive  char- 
acteristic is  impatience  over  the  loss  of  time 
— required  not  only  safe  and  comfortable, 
but  rapid  transit  from  the  suburbs  to  the 
center  of  business.  All  these  accommoda- 
tions the  cable  road  managers  promised  to 
give  the  public,  and  it  is  no  more  than  just 
to  add  that  the  promise  has  been  fulfilled 
honorably.  As  might  have  been  expected, 
there  were  more  or  less  accidents  when  the 
system  first  went  into  operation ;  the  public 
had  to  become  familiar  with  the  rapidly 
moving  trains  and  learn  to  keep  out 
of  the  way,  wnile  the  company  had 
to  acquire  experience  in  the  manage- 
ment of  powerful,  extraordinary  machinery 
and  to  organize  from  the  raw  material  a  force 
of  experts  to  do  expert  work.  All  this  has 
been  accomplished,  and  it  is  no  longer  a 
matter  of  doubt  that  the  cable  road — which 
transports  passengers  at  nearly  double  the 
rate  of  speed  attempted  by  the  old-fashioned 
mule  lines — is  the  safest  and  most  comfort- 
able street  railroad  in  the  city. 

The  cable  road  now  operates  twenty  miles 
of  line  extending  out  into  the  best  residence 
districts.  It  runs  1 00  grip  and  300  box  cars, 
and  employs  about  fifteen  hundred  men. 

The  day  is  not  far  distant  when  this  system 
of  street  railroads  will  supersede  all  others 
in  the  enlightened  West. 

CEMETERIES  OF  CHICAGO. 

ROSE    HILL     A     BEAUTIFUL   BESTING  PLACE    FOB 
THE     DEAD. 

As  in  almost  every  feature  that  is  of  im- 
portance to  the  establishmment  of  a  large 
and  crowded  city,  Chicago  is  peculiarly  for- 
tunate in  at  least  one  of  it  rural  ceme- 
teries. The  projectors  of  Eose  Hill  have 
wisely  selected  grounds  far  enough  from  the 
city  proper  to  insure  no  molestation  of  the 
ashes  of  the  dead  in  the  future,  and  have 
chosen  grounds  high  enough  for 
the  purposes  intended,  and  also  those 
susceptible  of  improvement  at  a 
slight  expense.  They  are  of  easy  access 
both  by  rail  and  drives,  which  is  certainly  a 
desirable  feature.  A  representative  of  THE 
INTEB  OCEAN  was  detailed  to  make 
a  tour  of  inspection  of  the  dif- 
ferent cemeteries,  and  for  his  rains 
was  rewarded  with  a  sight  at  Rose  Hill  that, 
barring  the  knowledge  of  being  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  dead,  was  as  pleasing  and  inter- 
esting as  any  that  Chicago  or  surroundings 
can  afford. 

HOW   TO   EEACH  ROSE   HILL. 

The  grounds  embrace  a  scope  of  500  acres, 
and  are  from  thirty  to  forty  feet  above  Lake 
Michigan,  and  mostly  covered  with  native 
timber.  The  distance  from  the  city  is  only 
six  and  one-half  miles,  and  is  accessible  by 
the  Chicago  and  Northwestern,  the  Lake 
Shore  drive  and  Green  Bay  Roads— all  these 
lines  starting  from  the  heart  of  the  city.  The 
character  of  the  soil  is  such  as  to  forever  • 
preclude  the  possibility  of  dampness— the 
cemetery,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  being  located 
on  a  gravel  ridge,  and  having  an 
elevation  above  the  surrounding  country 


of  an  average  of  fifteen  feet. 
The  undulation  of  the  surface  as  well  as  its 
elevation  above  the  lake,  referred  to  else- 
where, are  perhaps  the  two  great  natural  ad- 
vantages that  have  made  this  cemetery  so  ac- 
ceptable. What  may  be  said  of  the  buildings 
can  be  regarded  as  truthful  when  the  state- 
ment is  made  that  they  are  in  perfect  keep- 
ing with  everything'  else  connected  with  the 
institution.  The  receiving  vault  alone  is  a 
marvel  in  its  way,  possessing  capacity  for 
holding  250,  and  so  arranged  as  to  permit  of 
the  handling  of  coffins  without  the  possibility 
of  the  slightest  damage. 

OTHER  ADVANTAGES     OF    AN    ARTIFICIAL     CHAR- 
ACTER. 

An  artesian  well,  sunk  to  a  depth  of  2,278 
feet,  furnishes  an  inexhaustible  supply  of 
water,  that  is  conveyed  to  all  parts  of  the 
cemetery  by  a  complete  system  of  water 
pipes,  laid  below  the  frost  line,  and  all  the 
modern  sprinkling  apparatus  attached 
thereto.  The  sewer  system  is  also  perfect  in 
all  respects,  and  everything  of  an  unpleasant 
nature  that  may  collect  is  carried  off  at 
once. 

The  artificial  lakes  add  greatly  to  the 
beauty  of  the  grounds.  The  avenues,  drives, 
and  walks  have  been  made  with  a  view 
both  to  symmetry  and  permanency, while  the 
large  and  handsome  green-houses  and  con- 
servatories are  constantly  filled  with  the 
choicest  of  plants,  vines,  and  flowers  to  sup- 
ply the  demand  for  these  ornaments.  The 
fact  is.  there  is  no  cemetery  in  this 
country  upon  which  has  been  spent  more 
money,  time,  and  study  than  Rose  Hill,  and 
the  result  has  been  both  profitable  to  the 
proprietors  and  pleasing  to  the  patrons. 
The  public  will  be  surprised  to  learn 
that  the  uniform  price  in  all  parts  of  the 
cemetery  is  only  50  cents  per  square 
foot,  which  affords  thoso  desirous  of 
selecting  family  lots  an  opportunity  of  mak- 
ing their  own  choice  without  any  additional 
charge.  Lots  can  be  obtained  from  the  small 
10x15,  in  regular  gradation,  up  to  100x100 
feet  Parenthetically  it  may  be  of  interest 
to  state  that  the  board  of  managers  of  Rose 
Hill  are  now  discussing  the  advisability  of 
advancing  prices  at  least  100  per  cent,  as 
they  are  of  the  opinion  that  they  should  not 
dispose  of  their  property  at  less  figures  than 
other  cemeteries. 

A    CONTEMPLATED   BAISE  IN  PRICES. 

This  being  a  matter  of  interest  Lo  the 
residents  of  Chicage  desiring  to  purchase 
family  burial  plats  (as  all  must  sooner  or 
later),  the  officers  of  the  Rose  Hill  Company 
were  called  upon  to  learn  at  what  time  the 
proposed  advance  in  prices  would  be  made. 
They  informed  the  writer  that,  while  it  was 
true  that  such  an  advance  was  contemplated 
in  the  near  future,  the  public  would  be  duly 
notified  of  it  through  the  press  and  other- 
wise before  going  into  effect,  that  they 
knew  of  no  gooa  reason  why  they  should 
continue  to  sell  the  finest  and  most  desirable 
grounds  for  cemetery  purposes  that  couli  be 
found  anywhere  near  or  of  easy  access  from 
Chicago  for  100  per  cent  less  than  many 
citizens  pay  elsewhere  for  low,  wet  prairie; 
that  the  great  expense  of  labor  ;md  per- 
manent improvements  made  in  Rose  Hill 
during  tbe  past  four  years  was  the  result  of 
a  firm  determination  on  the  part  of  its  man- 
agers to  make  it  not  only  a  beautiful  ceme- 
tery, but  the  rural  cemetery  of  Chicago,  and 
that  the  improvements  would  go  steadily 
and  rapidly  on  until  this  object  was  accom- 
plished; that  the  location,  extent — 500  acres 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


— and  natural  advantages  of  the  grounds 
warranted  them  in  this  determination  to  give 
to  the  citizens  of  Chicago  a  rural  cemetery 
that  would  compare  favorably  with  any  in 
the  land.  While  it  is  agreeable  to  know  that 
they  are  so  determined,  and  that  such  in- 
formation is  a  matter  of  public  interest,  yet 
the  intention  of  this  article  was  to  give  more 
the  impression  created  by  investigation.  All 
who  visit  Rose  Hill  confess  that  in  point  of 
location  and  natural  advantages,  as  well  as 
in  its  improvements,  it  must  be  accorded 
the  first  place  in  the  list  of  rural  cemeteries 
near  or  adjacent  to  Chicago. 

AN  IMPORTANT   FEATURE. 

From  a  very    interesting    and    important 

Eamphlet  issued  by  the  Rose  Hill  Company,  the 
iformation  is  gleaned  that  an  important 
feature  has  recently  been  introduced  at 
the  request  of  a  number  of  the  most 
prominent  and  wealthy  citizens  of  Chicago 
who  desired  to  secure  large  and  handsome 
lots  for  themselves  and  heirs.  Several  sec- 
tions in  the  finest  part  of  the  cemetery  have 
been  laid  out  on  the  lawn  plan,  to  be  dis- 
posed of  for  all  time  to  come.  Special  cove- 
nants were  incorporated  and  given  in  the 
warranty  deeds,  covenanting  not  only  as  to 
the  lots  conveyed,  but  also  that  no  lots  in 
said  section  or  sections  shall  be  subdivided 
or  sold  in  fractional  parts. 

This  portion  of  the  cemetery  bids  fair  to  be- 
come the  handsomest  and  most  desirable  of 
any  within  its  borders.  A  large  number  of 
prominent  citizens  already  own  lots  in  this 
locality,  but  space  will  not  admit  the  long 
list  of  familiar  names  found  inscribed  on  the 
handsome  family  monuments  in  this  part  of 
the  grounds — and  in  deference  to  the  many 
all  are  omitted. 

A  PERPETUAL  CASE  FUND. 

Like  all  cemeteries  of  a  responsible  char- 
acter, this  one  has  a  fund  created  under  the 
provisions  of  its  charter,  for  the  perpetual 
care  of  the  cemetery  grounds  after  all  lots 
therein  shall  have  been  sold.  This  fund  al- 
ready amounts  to  more  than  $35,000  of  prin- 
cipal alone,  and  is  rapidly  on  the  increase ; 
so  that  the  completion  of  the  principal 
amount  of  $100,000  required  by  its  charter 
is  fully  assured.  That  the  readers  of  this 
issue  may  glean  some  idea  of  tne  solidity  of 
the  fund,  it  is  only  necessary  to  mention  that 
the  Hon.  Charles  B.  Farwell,  Orrington  Lunt, 
banker,  and  Henry  F.  Lewis  constitute  the 
committee  which  nave  control  of  all  moneys 
belonging  thereto,  which  is  invested  in  in- 
terest-bearing bonds,  as  required  and  par- 
ticularly designated  by  the  charter,  wnich 
bonds  are  incontrovertible  for  any  other 
purpose  whatsoever. 

ROSE  HILL'S  FUTUBE. 

To  all  who  are  interested  in  Rose  Hill,  and 
to  those  who  are  undecided  as  to  where  and 
in  what  cemetery  they  should  secure  a  fam- 
ily lot,  THE  INTER  OCEAN  would  suggest: 

That  the  future  of  Rose  Hill,  as  a  large, 
permanent,  and  beautiful  rural  cemetery, 
free  from  molestation,  is  assured.  Its  supe- 
rior advantages  of  location  and  adaptability 
for  cemetery  purposes,  over  any  other  ground 
near  or  conveniently  accessible  from  the 
city,  have  been  enumerated  and  need  no 
further  mention.  A  visit  to  the  grounds  will 
convince  the  most  skeptical  of  the  correctness 
of  the  statements  in  regard  thereto.  Chicago 
may  grow  and  become  a  city  of  one,  two,  or 
even  three  millions  of  people — a  continuous 
city,  north  along  Lake  Michigan  to  Eyanston, 
and  yet  Rose  Hill,  a  city  i»  extent  within  its 
own  borders,  is  away  from  the  line  of  growth 


of  the  city  along  the  lake.  It  Is  a  city  set 
apart  by  itself ;  a  resting  place  for  the  dead, 
where  they  will  not  be  disturbed  or  molested 
by  the  encroachments  of  the  living;  and  still 
it  is  within  a  convenient  distance,  and  of 
easy  access  from  the  great  city  of  Chicago. 

The  exceedingly  low  price  of  lots,  as  com- 
pared with  other  cemeteries,  where  ground 
is  sold  for  double  the  price  asked  for  the 
finest  lots  in  Rose  Hill,  may  be  an  induce- 
ment for  some  to  purchase  in  this  cemetery. 
It  is  true  that  those  who  purchase  now  get 
the  benefit  of  the  present  low  prices,  yet  we 
do  not  hold  this  out  as  an  inducement  to  the 
public.  There  are  other  and  greater  advan- 
tages possessed  by  Rose  Hill,  advantages  that 
are  far  above  and  beyond  any  mere  money 
considerations;  advantages  that  elsewhere 
money  cannot  buy. 

GRACELAND  CEMETERY. 

THE  BURIAL   GROUND  OF  NOTABLE  MEN. 

This  beautiful  city  of  the  dead,  is  situated 
near  Lake  Michigan,  north  of  the  city.  It  is 
formed  by  a  series  of  ridges  left  by  Lake 
Michigan  as  it  receded  from  the  shore  and 
of  little  valleys  between  them. 

Within  the  last  three  years  large  additions 
have  been  made  to  Graceland,  doubling  the 
area  available  for  burial  purposes  and 
providing  lots  to  supply  the  demands  of  the 
next  twenty  years  at  least.  This  new  part 
has  been  laid  out  on  the  landscape  lawn 
plan  and  improved  at  great  expense,  and  it 
is  now  by  far  the  most  attractive  portion  of 
the  grounds.  It  rivals  the  public  parks 
In  beauty,  and  is  worthy  to  rank 
with  the  famous  cemeteries  of  Amer- 
ica. Thousands  of  people  from  far 
and  near  visit  Graceland,  drawn  by  its  grow- 
ing reputation  for  scenic  beauty.  There  is 
an  almost  endless  variety  of  foliage  and  a 
diversity  of  surface  which  is  a  surprise  to 
those  who  think  of  the  surroundings  of  Chi- 
cago as  a  monotonous  prairie.  The  pieces  of 
ornamental  water  have  been  managed  with 
great  skill,  and  when  the  trees  and  shrubbery 
around  them  are  fully  grown  they  will  De 
very  unusually  picturesque. 

A  BIT  OF  HISTORY. 

Graceland  was  founded  in  1861  by  the  Hon. 
Thomas  B.  Bryan  The  first  Board  of  Mana- 
gers contained  the  names  of  some  of  the  men 
who  have  been  largely  instrumental  in  mak- 
ing Chicago  what  it  is — among  them  William 
B.  Ogden,  Sidney  Sawyer,  and  Edwin  H.  Shel- 
don. Most  of  the  historic  names  of  Chicago 
are  to  be  found  in  the  list  of  lot-owners,  or 
on  the  tombs  of  Graceland,  such  as  William 
B.  Ogden,  Judge  Manierre,  Mahlon  D.  Ogden. 
Jonathan  Burr,  the  philanthropist;  John  H, 
Kinzie,  N.  B.  Judd,  Justin  Butterfield. 
H.  H.  Magie,  Alexander  Fullerton,  Walter 
L.  Newberry,  W.  F.  Coolbaugh, 

EliB.  Williams,  Dr.  Brainard,  E.  G.  Hall, 
John  C.  Calhoun.  Mr.  Calhoun  is  the  gen- 
tleman who  established  the  first  newspaper 
in  Chicago,  and  whose  biography  appears 
elsewhere.  Among  the  lot-owners,  the 
names  of  men  who  control  the  vast 
industries  of  Chicago,  or  represent  its  inter- 
ests to-day,  are  found:  Mayor  Harrison, 
Judge  Drummond,  E.  W.  Blatchford,  J.  V. 
Farwell,  N.  R.  Fairbank,  Wirt  Dexter,  Joseph 
Medill,  Keith  Brothers,  L.  C.  Buck,  Jerome 
Beecher,  L.  J.  McCormick,  Albert  Keep,  T.  W. 


S(  'EXE  IN   THE    CEMETERY. 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUBY. 


29 


Harvey.  John  De  Koven,  Henry  W.  King, 
Lorenz  Brentano.  Voliiey  C.  Turner,  Daniel  A. 
Jones,  Edwin  H.  Sheldon. 

SOME  OF  THE  MONUMENTS. 

Great  sums  have  been  expended  on  the 
monuments  in  Graceland,  and  they  compare 
favorably  with  those  of  any  cemetery  in  the 
country.  Conspicuous  amo'ng  these  are  the 
costly  gothic  mausoleum  of  H.  H.  Taylor, 
the  fine  obelisk  of  Washing-ton  Smith,  the 
stately  Egyptian  column  of  T.  M.  Avery's, 
surmounted  by  a  noble  figure;  the  Corinthian 
column,  with"  its  statue,  of  D.  B.  Shipman; 
the  tine  monuments  of  E.  H.  Haddock,  C.  B. 
Blair,  William  Blair,  Henry  Whitbeck,  W.  D. 
Fuller,  with  its  background  of  dense  foliage, 
and  the  massive  tomb  of  \\illiam  J. 
Wilson,  of  original  and  striking  design. 
There  are  many  others  perhaps  equally 
striking  and  important,  among  the  number 
being  a  mausoleum  built  at  a  cost  of  $15,- 
000.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  the  in- 
terments in  Graceland  exceed  those  in  any 
other  cemetery  in  America,  except  Green- 
wood, near  New  York — the  nmnber  of  silent 
residents  of  Graceland  being  more  than 
37,000. 

THE  ROUTES  TO  GBACELAND. 

Graceland  is  reached  by  a  drive  along  the 
lake  shore  through  Lincoln  Park,  and  tnence 
by  North  Clark  street;  or  by  horse-cars  on 
Clark  or  State  street,  which  run  to  the  ceme- 
tery every  half  hour.  The  Chicago  and 
Evanston  Railway  will  be  in  operation  in  a 
short  time,  and  will  carry  passengers  from 
the  Union  Depot  on  Canal  street  or  from 
the  Kinzie  street  bridge  to  the  new  ceme- 
tery entrance. 

The  intention  of  the  management  of  Grace- 
land  is  to  preserve  the  wide  and  beautiful 
sweep  of  the  lawns  by  excluding',  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, stone  and  marble  from  the  new  grounds, 
the  monuments  being  restricted  in  number, 
and  the  headstones  being  keot  low  and  un- 
obtrusive, while  all  the  old-fashioned  and  re- 
pulsive stone  edges,  fences,  posts,  chains, 
and  all  other  unsightly  lot-enclosures  once 
in  vogue  have  been  forbidden.  In  dry  sea- 
sons,~when  the  grass  even  in  Lincoln  Park 
turns  brown,  the  turf  in  the  new  grounds  in 
Graceland  is  kept  as  green  as  in  June  by 
plentiful  sprinkling  by  means  of  a  steam- 
pumrj,  the  water  being  supplied  from  living 
springs  which  feed  the  artificial  lakes. 

PEEPETUAL  FUND. 

A  large  and  constantly  growing  f und,known 
as  the  Graceland  Improvement  Fund,  in  the 
hands  of  a  Board  of  Trustees  consisting  of 
Edwin  H.  Sheldon,  George  C.  Walker,  Jerome 
Beecher,  A,  J.  Averill,  Hiram  Wheeler,  John 
De  Koven,  E.  S.  Williams.  M.  C.  Steams,  K. 
W.  Blatchford,  J.  W.  McGinness,  Daniel 
Thompson,  and  William  Blair,  guarantees  the 
perpetual  preservation  and  maintenance  of 
Graceland  Cemetery. 

PARKS    AND    BOULEVARDS. 

A    MAGNIFICENT   SYSTEM. 

Nothing  in  this  great  city  better  shows  the 
spirit  of  Chicago  people  than  the  magnificent 
park  system,  which  is  the  wonder  of  the  age, 
attracting  the  admiration  of  visitors  from  all 
over  the  world,  and  it  is  generally  conceded 
that  no  other  city  on  the  continent  has  so 
elaborate  a  park  and  boulevard  system  as  the 
Garden  City  of  the  West. 

In  this,  as  in  everything  else  where  Chicago 
saw  her  need,  she  went  to  work  on  a  scale 


that  would  have  satisfied  even  Ponce  de 
Leon,  in  his  visionary  schemes,  and  she  had 
the  energy  to  push  all  she  undertook  to  suc- 
cessful endings.  The  early  Chicago  had  the 
lake  shore  for  a  breathing  place,  the  bound- 
less prairies  for  a  ramble,  and  the 
little  puonc  square,  with  its  rus- 
tic town  pump,  for  a  mall,  and 
with  these  they  were  satisfied,  until  one  day 
in  1853  Mrs.  Carpenter  put  it  into  the  head  of 
her  husband  and  Eeuben  Taylor  to  have  a 
park  on  the  West  Side. 

THE    FIBST  PABK. 

The  surveyors  were  stopped  in  their  work 
of  laying  out  town  lots  where  Union  Park 
now  lies,  and  the  tract  of  twenty-three  acres 
was  purchased  by  the  city  for  a  public  park. 
And  such  it  has  ever  since  been,  though  it 
must  be  admitted  that  in  later  years  it  has 
been  much  neglected,  and  is  of  little  use  to 
the  people  who  live  in  its  vicinity. 

Then  other  portions  of  the  city  became 
envious,  and  little  parks  were  laid  out,  some 
of  them  no  more  than  small  squares,  but 
they  served  their  purpose,  and  to-day  are  de- 
lightful play -grounds  for  tne  neighborhood 
children.  These  small  parks  which 
now  are  under  the  control  of  the  city  are : 
Union,  23  acres;  Jefferson,  5  3-5  acres;  Ver- 
non,  3  acres;  Ellis,  2  acres;  Lake,  40  acres; 
Wicker,  5  acres;  and  Washington  Square,  2^ 
acres,  making  a  total  of  81  acres  devoted  to 
parks  in  the  city  limits. 

But  Chicago's  pride  is  her  grand  park  sys- 
tem outside  the  limits,  where  the  dry  prai- 
ries and  bottomless  bogs  have  been  con- 
verted into  the  most  beautiful  pleasure 
grounds — veritable  places  of  enchantment 
These  with  the  little  city  parks  make  up  a 
grand  total  of  2,353  acres  of  pleasure 
grounds  in  Chicago,  and  the  money  ex- 
pended could  only  be  counted  by  the  million. 

LINCOLN  PAEK. 

Lincoln  Park  was  cut  off  from  the  lands  of 
the  Chicago  Cemetery  by  city  ordinance  in 
1864,  and  for  several  years  bore  the  name  of 
Lake  Park,  but  the  name  was  changed  by 
common  consent  without  official  action.  'It 
then  contained  sixty  acres  and  was  under 
the  control  of  the  city  government,  but  in 
1869  the  Legislature  provided  for  its  im- 
provement and  appointed  E.  B.  McCagg, 
Andrew  Nelson,  John  B.  Turner,  Joseph 
Stockton,  and  Jacob  Behm  as  the  first  Board 
of  Commissioners.  It  is  supported  by  taxa- 
tion of  the  North  Division.  It  now  has  a 
total  of  310  acres  and  is  said  to  be  the  pret- 
tiest «ark  in  this  country. 

It  was  in  1866  that  the  people  first  began 
to  a<j  itate  the  question  of  laying  out  parks  of 
this  kind  and  George  M.  Kimbark,  Paul  Cor- 
nell, Chauncey  T.  Bowen,  George  K,  Clarke, 
Obad.ah  Jackson,  J.  Young  Scammon, 
and  J.  Irving  Pearce  should  have  the  credit 
of  the  first  move.  These  gentlemen  proposed 
two  South  Park  bills  to  be  presented  to  the 
Legislature,  one  providing  that  the  whole 
city  should  be  taxed  and  the  other  that  only 
the  South  Division  and  Hyde  Park.  This 
passed,  but  when  the  people  were  asked  to 
indorse  the  action  at  the  spring  election  it 
failed. 

ENACTED  BY  THE  LEGISLATUBE. 

A  second  bill  was  passed  fixing  the  location 
where  it  now  is,  and  this  passed  the  Legisla- 
ture and  was  indorsed  by  the  people.  The 
first  Commissioners  were  John  M.  Wilson,  L. 


so 


CHICAGO'S  FIKST  HALF  CENTURY. 


B  Sidway,  Paul  Cornell,  G.  W.  Gage,  and  C. 
T.  Bowen. 

The  South  Parks  contain  1,100  acres,  and 
the  land  alone  cost  $1,700.000.  The  Drexel, 
Oakwood,  and.  Grand  boulevards  are  built  in 
connection  with  this,  and  several  millions  of 
money  have  been  spent  in  improving-  the 
grounds. 

The  West  Parks  system  was  established  in 
the  same  manner.  This  has  three  large  parks 
— Douglas  on  the  south,  Central  or  Garfield  in 
the  center,  and  Humboldt  on  the  north. 
Douglas  has  180  acres,  Garfield  185,  and 
Humboldt  225.  All  are  connected  by  boule- 
vards, and  soon  other  boulevards  will  be 
completed  connecting  them  with  the  parks 
in  the  other  divisions. 

With  over  2,000  acres  of  pleasure  grounds 
ana  fifty  miles  of  boulevards,  Chicago  stands 
without  a  rival  in  the  extent  of  her  park 
privileges  for  her  citizens. 

TRK    WASHINGTON    PARK    CXCJB. 

THE  HOME  OF  THE  TURFMEN. 

One  of  the  most  important  and  certainly 
the  most  aristocratic  club  in  the  city  is  the 
new  Washington  Park  Club.  Not  only  in  the 
turf  world,  but  in  the  social  as  well,  this  in- 
stitution takes  precedence.  •  The  Jockey  Club 
in  London  embodies  the  highest  aristocracy 
in  England,  and  to  be  a  member  of  that  as- 
sociation is  considered  one  of  the  leading 
honors  of  the  country.  Several  crowned 
heads  are  numbered  on  its  roll  of  member- 
hip.  Many  of  the  nobility  are  also  mem- 
bers, but  the  mere  fact  of  their  being  noble- 
men is  not  a  qualification  for  admission  to 
the  club.  The  Committee  on  Membership 
scrutinize  the  application  in  the  most  rigor- 
ous manner,  and  the  fact  of  a  gentleman's 
election  to  the  London  Jockey  Club  is  her- 
alded as  a  distinction  as  notable  as  a  gazette 
in  the  army. 

THE  FEENOH  JOCKEY   CLUB. 

France  has  its  national  jockey  club,  located 
in  Paris.  Its  exclusiveness  is  noted  the  world 
over.  Many  Americans  of  fabulous  wealth, 
resident  in  Paris,  have  tried  with  unavailing 
effect  to  gain  an  election  in  that  organization, 
but  no  influence  could  be  brought  to  bear 
that  would  overcome  the  exclusiveness  of 
the  by-laws.  New  York  has  in  the  American 
Jockey  Club  an  institution  comparing  favor- 
ablv  with  these  two  clubs  in  Europe.  It  is 
composed  of  the  best  men  in  the  aristocratic 
social  circles  of  New  York:  August  Bel- 
mont,  Leonard  Jerome.  James  Gordon 
Bennett,  D.  D.  Withers,  Charles  Con- 
stable, Henry  Hilton.  Augustus  Schell, 
Whitelaw  Reid,  Russell  Sage,  Pierre  Lorillard, 
William  A,  Travers,  Judge  James  Munson, 
and  others  of  equal  wealth  and  celebrity 
in  New  York  City.  This  club  is  fully  as  ex- 
clusive as  either  of  the  European  clubs.  It 
is  a  power  in  the  world  of  fashion,  and  its 
indorsement  stamps  the  thing  as  being 
proper. 

CHICAGO'S  NEW  JOCKEY  CLUB. 

That  Chicago  was  ready  for  such  an  insti- 
tution is  shown  in  the  altogether  splendid 
response  which  has  come  to  the  call  of  the 
directors  of  the  Washington  Park  Club.  The 
nrst  thought  of  this  club  originated  in  the 
brain  of  Albert  S.  Gage,  Esq.,  who  has  never 
faltered  for  a  moment  in  his  efforts  to  make 
this  club  a  grand  success.  Through  his  in- 
strumentality a  stock  company  was  formed 


with  a  capital  stock  of  $150,000.  With 
this  start  the  club  has  to-day  one  of  the  finest 
courses  in  the  country,  if  not  in  the  world. 
They  own  eighty  acres  of  land  just  south  of 
South  Park,  lying  between  Sixty-first  and 
Sixty-third  streets,  Cottage  Grove  avenue, 
and  the  Grand  boulevard. 

A   SPLENDID    BUILDING. 

Upon  this  has  been  erected  a  club-house 
which  cost  upward  of  $50,000,  ana  which 
far  surpasses  anything  of  its  character  in  tae 
world.  Of  course  tne  London  Jockey  Club 
has  extremely  valuable  property  in  its  town 
house,  not  to  speak  of  the  various  courses 
and  other  houses  it  owns  at  Epsom  and  else- 
where. But  there  is  nothing  in  America  that 
can  compare  with  the  Washington  Park  Club. 
When  the  gates  are  opened  next  June  Chi- 
cagoans  will  see  the  handsomest  club-house 
in  the  United  States.  In  the  laying  out  of 
the  grounds  the  club  has  had  the  good  for- 
tune to  have  the  combined  talents  of  Mr.  S. 
8.  Beman,  who  built  Pullman,  and  Mr.  N.  F. 
Barrett,  well  known  in  the  East  and  West  as 
a  landscape  engineer.  These  gentlemen 
have  worked  together  with  a  view  of  making 
the  buildings  and  landscape  harmonize,  and 
the  entire  plat  as  picturesque  as  possible. 
There  will  be  ample  drives  for  the  club  mem- 
bers, and  a  perfect  track  for  public  meetings 
and  members'  speed  trials.  The  grand  stand 
will  be  the  finest  in  the  world,  being  500  feet 
long,  two  stories  high,  fitted  with  refresh- 
ment rooms,  parlors,  and  reception  rooms, 
the  whole  costing  upward  of  $40,000,  and 
capable  of  seating  10,000  people.  Stables 
are  now  completed  to  accommodate  280 
horses,  and  as  many  more  will  be  erected  in 
the  spring. 

AN  AUTISTIC    INTERIOR. 

The  club-house,  which  will  occupy  a  posi- 
tion twelve  feet  above  the  track,  with  a  lawn 
sloping  from  it,  will  be  completed  by  May  1. 
It  will  be  136  feet  long  by  97  wide,  and  two 
stories,  basement,  and  attic  in  height.  In  the 
basement  will  be  the  kitchen,  store-rooms, 
heating  apparatus,  cellar,  etc. ,  and  the  attic 
will  contain  the  servant  and  lumber  rooms. 
On  the  main  floor  will  be  a  spacious  entrance- 
hall,  club  office,  cafe  (with  serving  and  wine 
rooms  off),  billiard-room,  a  ladies'  waiting- 
room,  a  parlor  for  the  directors,  a  lavatory, 
and  five  private  dining-rooms.  Extending 
around  the  entire  building  on  this  floor  is  a 
veranda  16  feet  wide,  which  will  be  provided 
with  chairs  and  other  conveniences  for  wit- 
nessing races.  The  second  floor  contains  a 
grand  dining-hall,  seven  private  dining- 
rooms,  wine  and  serving  rooms,  a  grand  ball, 
ladies'  parlor,  ladies'  toilet  and  private  room, 
and  cloak-room.  A  covered  balcony,  16  feet 
wide,  also  runs  around  the  entire  building  of 
this  story.  All  of  the  rooms  and  halls  have 
fire-places  specially  designed  for  each  by  Mr. 
Beinan.  Upon  the  third  floor  are  also  some 
sleeping-rooms  and  bath-rooms,  and  upon 
the  roof  of  the  building  are  two  open  ob- 
servatories, from  whicu  every  part  of  the 
park  and  surrounding  country  can  be  seen. 
The  grand  dining-hall  referred  to  will  have 
an  elaborate  timbered  ceiling,  and  all  of  the 
private  dining-rooms  will  have  sliding-doors, 
so  if  desired  they  may  be  thrown  together. 
The  main  entrance  halls  and  staircases  will 
be  finished  in  white  ash,  and  the  rest  of  the 
structure  will  be  treated  m  white  pine.  The 
main  staircase  will  be  an  elaborate  affair,  and 
will  be  a  very  attractive  feature  of  the  large 
hall.  The  families  of  members  are  ex- 
pected to  v.sit  the  club,  consequently  the 
necessity  of  the  strict  scrutiny  spoken  of 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUKT. 


31 


previously.     At  the  present  moment  there 
are  300  members  admitted  to  this  club. 

A  LARGE  MEMBERSHIP. 

The  initiation  fee  is  $150,  and  the  applica- 
tions for  membership  are  quite  numeroua 
Before  the  gates  open  it  is  expected  tnat 
there  will  be  500  members.  There  is  not  a 
name  on  the  rolls  but  what  has  passed  the 
most  rigid  scrutiny,  and  a  membership  in  the 
Jockey  Club  is  virtually  a  guarantee  of  the 
owner's  standing  in  society.  The  club  have 
opened  stakes  for  the  various  ages  of  thor- 
oughbreds, and  will  give  their  inaugural 
meeting  beginning  June  28,  closing  July  12. 
Racing  on  alternate  days.  In  the  young 
classes  the  stakes  closed  Oct.  15,  with  375 
nominations.  The  entries  for  the  general 
meeting  close  Jan.  15,  at  which  time  fully  as 
many  more  entries  will  probably  be  made. 
This  "new  club  will  offer  an  opportunity  to 
those  who  enjoy  the  better  qualities  of  the 
turf  sports.  Tne  thousands  who  have  each 
summer  gone  to  Saratoga  and  other  Eastern 
resorts  to  enjoy  racing  will  now  make  this 
city  the  terminus  of  their  summer  tours.  To 
the  residents  of  Chicago  who  have  long  de- 
sired an  objective  point  for  their  drives  will 
find  in  this  club  the  fulfillment  of  these  de- 
sires. It  will  elevate  the  taste  and  benefit 
the  turf.  Fine  turnouts  will  be  numerous, 
and  the  sport  will  be  dignified.  Mr.  J.  E. 
Bewster,  the  efficient  Secretary,  has  done 
much  to  further  the  success  of  the  club,  he 
being  a  member  of  the  American  Jockey  Club 
of  New  York. 

THE  SPOUTING  CAPITAL. 

THE  TURF,  BASE    BALL,    THE   WHEEL,    AND   BILL- 
IAKDS. 

The  advance  that  Chicago  has  made  in  the 
matter  of  sporting  affairs  in  the  past  twenty- 
five  years  has  become  a  question  of  wonder- 
ing surprise,  not  only  throughout  our  own 
country  but  on  the  other  side  of  the  At- 
lantic. The  early  days  of  Chicago  saw  little 
or  no  sport  save  in  its  primitive  character. 
There  were  no  remarkable  characters  in  the 
sporting  worl  d.  Whoever  heard  of  Chicago, 
much  less  come  to  visit  the  city? 

John  C.  Heenan  came  here  but  it  was  only 
en  route  St.  Louis.  It  has  been  since  1860 
that  Chicago  has  achieved  her  present  posi- 
tion in  the  sporting  world.  The  era  of  sensa- 
tion, or,  better,  originality,  began  with  that 
year,  and  the  eyes  of  all  lovers  of  sports 
have  been  turned  toward  Chicago  ever  since. 

IN   TURF  MATTERS 

there  have  been  more  and  greater  remarka- 
ble events  Here  than  in  any  city  in  the  world. 
Dexter,  Goldsmith  Maid,  Earus,  Hopeful,  St. 
Julien,  Maud  S.,  and  Jay-eye-see  all,'  found 
their  laurels  in  Chicago,  and  the  list  of  great 
performances  is  large  and  varied. 

In  base  ball  affairs  this  city  occupies  the 
parental  position,  professional  playing  hav- 
ing been  originated  here.  The  Chicagos 
have  always  been  at  the  top  or  close  to  it 
ever  since  the  game  has  been  a  reality. 
Starting  with  the  best  amateur  club  in 
America,  the  old  Excelsiors,  and  going  from 
better  to  best  in  the  way  of  professional  play- 


ers, Chicago  stands  pre-eminent  among  all 
cities  where  the  game  is  Known.  The  sport 
has  been  fostered  and  upheld  here  to  such  an 
extent  that  there  is  no  other  city  which 
patronizes  the  games  as  does  Chicago.  In 
fact,  the  city  is  looked  upon  as  the  center 
from  which  emanate  many  of  the  decrees 
and  other  details  of  the  sport 

Cricket  also  finds  a  foothold  in  Chicago, 
having  two  full-grown  clubs  in  existence, 
one  of  those  possessing  two  or  three  players 
on  the  international  team. 

IN  BOATING    MATTERS 

This  city  has  to  labor  under  the  disad- 
vantage of  rough  water  most  of  the  time,  and 
so  in  the  years  gone  by  the  many  clubs  that 
have  been  formed  have  tossed  along  on  the 
rough  lake  and  but  little  success  has  been 
achieved.  But  to-day  there  are  three  or  four 
good  clubs.  Two  of  these  are  equal  to  any- 
thing anywhere  in  point  of  strength  and 
financial  standing.  The  Farraguts  head  the 
list,  and  the  Pullmans  are  second.  The  latter 
has  done  much  to  overcome  the  rough  water 
by  the  construction  of  their  course  at  Pull- 
man. 

The  bicycle  is  of  such  a  recenb  invention 
that  Chicago  has  hardly  had  time  to  win  the 
first  place  in  that  matter.  It  was  only  a  few 
years  ago  when  the  old  velocipede  was  intro- 
duced in  this  city  by  the  opening  of  a  school 
in  the  old  skating  rink  at  the  corner  of 
Wabash  avenue  and  Jackson  street,  where 
the  Matteson  House  now  stands.  This 
was  in  1867.  The  sport  did  not  seem  to  take 
a  strong  position  at  that  time.  Later,  when 
the  bicycle  came  into  existence,  it  proved  an 
attractive  sport,  and  it  gradually  grew,  and 
to-day  the  riders  are  numbered  by  the  hun- 
dreds in  this  city.  Schools  have  been  opened, 
and  the  traffic  in  this  expensive  sport  has 
become  a  thing  of  wonder. 

The  billiard  world  has  also  found  a  Mecca 
in  Chicago.  Some  of  the  greatest  experts  in 
the  world  first  came  to  the  surface  in  this 
city.  The  perfection  in  the  manufacture  of 
implements  of  the  game  has  been  achieved 
here,  and  the  greatest  tournaments  find  their 
field  within  Chicago's  walls.  Thus  it  is  that 
this  city  has  reached  a  very  pinnacle,  indeed, 
in  the  world  of  sports,  such  as  no  city  ever 
held  in  this  country  before>  and  which  no 
other  city  is  ever  liable  to  win.  There  have 
been  established  rolling-skating  rinks  which 
find  patrons  in  the  best  ranks  of  society,  and 
the  public  parks  afford  ample  scope  for  the 
regular  ice  skating. 

Chicago,  with  her  two  turf  clubs  and  two 
professional  base  ball  clubs,  is  fast  becoming 
the  home  of  champions.  The  bicycle  has 
several  world  beaters  residing  here.  Base 
ball  has  a  champion  club  here.  Billiards 
will  have  one  or  more  of  the  big  stars  in  this 
city.  Chicago  stands 

TN  JTEONT  IN  THE  SPORTING  WORLD 

at  least  in  two  departments,  namely,  the  turf 
and  base  ball.  In  all  other  matters  of  sport 
she  has  a  place  near  the  top,  and  is  always 
looked  upon  as  a  prime  factor  in  any  gather- 
ing of  sportsmen.  The  gun  has  no  city  in 
which  there  is  a  greater  following  than  here 
in  Chicago.  There  are  more  gun  clubs  and 
wealthier  ones  than  in  any  other  city.  The 
best  marksmen  and  trap  shots  are  here,  and 
the  last  convention  showed  a  better  average 
than  any  of  those  held  in  the  East.  Thus 
in  this  Western  metropolis,  not  only  in 
business,  but  in  sports,  does  the  great  energy 
and  progress  of  Chicago  manifest  itself.  It 
was  here  that  many  now  world  renowned 
names  were  first  crowned  with  victory 


32 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


in  the  world  of  sports,  and  it  is  here  that 
thousands  have  yet  to  achieve  celebrity  and 
fame.  _ 

A.  G.    SPAUDEVG    &    BROTHEKS. 

THE   SPOBTQJQ  HEADQUABTEBS. 

No  man  has  done  so  much  to  encourage 
and  stimulate  out-door  sports  in  Chicago  and 
the  West  as  Mr.  A.  G.  Spalding,  the  President 
and  Manager  of  the  Chicago  Base  Ball  Club. 
To  him  that  club  owes  its  organization  and 
success,  and  he  is  the  patron  saint  of  the 
base  ball  fraternity  in  the  West  To  him 
more  than  to  any  other  man  Chicago  owes 
the  reputation  of  its  club  and  the  honor  of 
the  championship  it  has  carried  for  so  many 
years.  After  retiring  from  the  diamond  Mr 
Spalding  opened  a  store  for  the  sale  of  base 
ball  supplies  and  other  sporting  goods,  and 
his  emporium  at  No.  103  Madison  street  is 
now  the  rendezvous  and  headquarters  of  the 
sportsmen  of  Chicago  and  the  Northwest 

Here  is  sold  at  wholesale  or  retail  every 
appliance  or  essential  known  to  the  sporting 
world.  Here  can  be  found  the  largest  stock 
of  guns  in  the  West,  at  the  lowest  prices,  and 
every  article  that  goes  to  make  up  the  outfit 
of  a  well-equipped  huntsman  or  fisherman. 
The  wheelman  can  find  the  most  complete 
stock  of  bicycles  and  tricycles,  and  those  who 
cultivate  "the  poetry  of  motion"  will  be 
charmed  by  the  assortment  of  skates  for 
parlor,  rink,  or  pond.  In  base  ball  goods  the 
Spaldings  are  the  leaders  and  recognized 
authority  from  Maine  to  California,  and  they 
provide  the  necesaries  for  every  other  sort  of 
out-door  game  or  sport. 

For  business  men,  clerks,  and  others  whose 
occupations  prevent  them  from  securing  a 
proper  amount  of  healthful  exercise  they 
provide  "the  Home  Gymnasium,"  which  can 
be  set  up  in  a  parlor,  a  library,  a  bed-room, 
or  an  office. 

Sleds  and  printing  presses,  magic  lanterns, 
toy  telephones  and  steam  engines,  dog  col- 
lars, whips  and  blankets,  carving-kniv  es,  pen- 
knives and  scissors,  dumb-bells  and  Indian 
clubs,  fencing  sticks,  boxing  gloves,  and 
every  invention  for  the  health,  pleasure,  and 
profit  of  mankind  can  be  had  at  the  lowest 
prices.  _ 

EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS 

THE    OLD    PEDAGOGUE. 

HIS     FIBST   SCHOOL. 

In  education  John  Watkins  claimed  to  have 
taken  the  lead.  He  claimed  that  he 
was  the  first  school-teacher  in  Chicago. 
He  came  West  in  May,  1832,  and  in  the  fall, 
after  the  close  of  the  Black  Hawk  war, 
opened  his  first  school  His  school-house 
was  on  the  North  Side,  about  half  way  be- 
tween the  lake  and  the  forks  of  the  river. 
The  building  was  owned  by  Colonel  Richard 


J.  Hamilton,  and  was  erected  for  a  horse 
stable,  and,  in  fact,  had  been  used  as  such. 
It  was  twelve  feet  square.  The  benches  and 
desks  were  made  of  old  store-boxes.  The 
school  was  started  by  private  subscription 
with  thirty  scholarships.  But,  as  there  were 
not  that  many  children  in  town  then,  it  was 
a  free  school  for  all  who  would 
attend.  The  first  quarter  Watkins  had 
twelve  scholars,  and  only  four  of  them 
white.  The  others  were  quarter,  half,  and 
three-quarter  Indian.  After  the  first  term 
Mr.  Watkins  said  he  moved  his  school  into  a 
double  log  house  on  the  W^<t  ShU;.  This  was 
Father  Jesse  Walker's  Methodist  school- 
house. 

WOULDN'T  BE  CIVILIZED. 

In  the  winter  of  1882-3  Billy '  Gal  dwell. 
Chief  of  the  Pottawattomies,  offered  to  pay 
the  tuition  and  buy  books  for  all  Indian  chil- 
dren who  would  a'ttend  school,  and  if  they 
would  dress  like  Americans  he  would  buy 
their  clothes.  But  there  was  not  one  that 
would  accept  the  last  proposition.  Among 
those  who  attended  this  first  school  in  Chi- 
cago were  Thomas,  William,  and  George 
Owen,  Richard  Hamilton,  Alexander,  Philip, 
and  Henry  Beaubien,  and  Isaac  N.  Harmon. 

The  first  Sunday  school  was  organized  by 
Philo  Carpenter,  who  is  still  living  on  the 
West  Side.  This  was  also  held  in  Father 
Walker's  school-house,  at  the  Point,  and  was 
first  opened  Aug.  19,  1832.  There  were 
fifteen  scholars,  mostly  children  of  the 
French  and  half-breed  residents.  The 
teachers  then  not  only  had  to  instruct  the 
little  urchins,  but  go  about  from  house  to 
house  and  gather  them  up  and  bring  them  to 
school  every  Sunday  morning.  Mr.  Carpenter 
was  Superintendent  of  this  school  for  several 
years.  John  Wright  was  the  Secretary  and 
Librarian,  using  a  silk  handerchief  to  carry 
the  "library"  to  and  from  the  place  of  meet- 
ing. 

FIBST  SCHOOL-HOUSE. 

But  in  November,  1840,  may  be  dated  the 
earliest  fair  footing  of  education  in  Chicago. 
The  Board  of  Education  then  consisted  of 
Wm,  Jones,  John  Young  Scammon,  Isaac  N. 
Arnold,  Nathan  H.  Balles,  John  Gray,  J.  H. 
Scott,  and  Hiram  Hugunin.  Teachers  were 
paid  $100  for  a  quarter,  consisting  of  three 
months.  There  were  but  four:  A.  G.  Rum- 
Bey,  H.  D.  Perkins,  A.  D.  Sturtevant,  and  A. 
C.  Dunbar. 

The  first  public  school  building  worth  men- 
tion was  erected  in  1843,  and  stood  where 
THE  INTEB  OCEAN  office  now  stands.  It  was 
built  at  the  urgent  instance  of  Alderman 
Miltimore,  and  was  for  years  known  as  "Mil- 
timore's  Folly,"  it  being  very  generally  as- 
sumed that  there  would  never  be 
children  enough  in  Chicago  to  fill  so 
large  a  building.  .  The  Mayor  in 
an  offtcial  message  to  the  Council  recom- 
mended that  it  be  converted  into  an  Insane 
Asylum  or  sold,  and  the  proceeds  used  to 
erect  smaller  buildings  "suitable  to  the  pres- 
ent and  future  requirements  of  the  city." 

This  was  afterward  known  as  the  Dear- 
born School.  In  a  single  year  there  was  need 
for  more  room  and  the  Jones  School  was 
built  at  the  corner  of  Clark  street  and  Har- 
mon court.  In  1845  the  Kinzie  School 
was  built  on  Ohio  street,  near  LaSalle,  and  in 
1846  the  Scammon  School,  on  West  Madison 
street,  near  Halsted. 

In  the  year  1883  there  was  an  average  en- 
rollment of  60,251  children  in  the  schools 
and  an  average  daily  attendance  of  55,991. 
There  were  in  November  704  children  who 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUKT. 


had  sought  admission  to  the  schools  but 
could  not  be  accommodated  for  want  of 
room.  The  number  of  teachers  employed 
was  1,1 5O  and  the  number  of  schools  60, 
with  911  rooms  and  56,790  sittings.  The 
value  of  the  ground  ou  which  the  schools  of 
Chicago  stand  alone  is  worth  $1,200,000  and 
the  buildings  about  $  1.260, 000,  while  the 
furniture  cost  $1 10,000,  and  the  heating 
apparatus  $240,000,  making  a  grand  total 
of  $3,800,000  invested  in  school  property  in 
tlie  city. 

There  are  also  118  private  schools  and  29 
academies,  seminaries,  and  colleges,  em- 
bracing all  departments  of  education. 

FIKST   SCHOOL  OF  MEDICINE. 

The  first  man  to  think  of  a  medical  college 
at  Chicago  was  Dr.  Daniel  Brainard.  As  early 
as  1836  he  had  conceived  the  idea  of  estab- 
lishing such  a  school.  He  called  in  the  assist- 
ance of  Dr.  G.  C.  Goodhue,  and  the  two  se- 
cured the  passage  of  an  ace  of  incorporation 
by  the  Legislature  at  Vandalia,  which  was 
approved  by  the  Governor  in  March,  1837. 

This  was  the  first  instrument    of    the  kind 


the    college    building,    and     nearly    10,000 
patients  are  treated  here  every  year. 

HOMEOPATHY. 

Fahnemann  Medical  College  was  chartered 
in  January.  1855,  and  the  first  course  of  lect- 
ures was  Klven  at  No.  168  Clark  street  in' 
the  winter  of  1859-60,  when  twenty-five 
students  attended,  and  eleven  were  gradu- 
ated Feb.  14,  1860.  A  new  college  building 
was  erected  on  Cottage  Grove  avenue  in 
1870. 

ECLECTICS. 

In  the  spring  of  1868  arrangements  were 
completed  for  the  establishment  of  an  eclec- 
tic medical  cpliesre  in  Chicago,  and  on  Nov. 
2,  1868,  was  inaugurated  Bennett  College  of 
Eclectic  Medicine  and  Surgery.  It  first  oc- 
cupied rooms  on  Kin/ie  street,  between  La- 
Salle  and  Fifth  avenues,  and  thirty  students 
were  in  attendance  at  the  first  session,  ten  of 
whom  graduated.  The  second  home  of  the 
institution  was  at  No.  180  East  Washington 
street  and  then  461  South  Clark  street  was 
used  until  1875.  when  the  new  college  build- 
ing was  built  at  511  and  513  State  street 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO. 


issued  to  any  educational  institution  in  the 
State  of  Illinois,  and  Rush  College  was  the 
first  medical  college  in  the  Northwest. 

Although  the  charter  was  obtained  in  1837, 
no  lectures  were  given  until  1843.  In  that 
year  two  small  rooms  were  fitted  up  on  Clark 
street,  and  Dec.  4.  1843,  a  course  of  lectures 
was  begun,  the  faculty  consisting  of  Drs. 
Brainard,  Blaney,  McLean,  and  Knapp. 
There  were  twenty -two  students,  and  at  the 
close  of  a  sixteen-weeks  session  William 
Butterfield  received  the  only  degree  con- 
ferred, and  was  the  first  doctor  graduated  in 
the  Northwest.  In  1844  several  liberal  citi- 
zens gave  the  institution  a  ouilding  on  the 
North  Side,  which  was  used  until  1855,  when 
a  larger  building  was  built  in  the  same 
place.  The  fire  swept  away  everything  in 
1871,  and  in  1872  the  spring  course  was 
begun  in  the  amphitheater  of  the  old  County 
Hospital  In  1875  the  present  college  build- 
ing, at  the  corner  of  Harrison  and  Wood 
streets,  was  begun,  and  it  was  opened  Oct.  4, 
1876. 

The  Central  Free  Dispensary  is  located  in 


CHICAGO     MEDICAL    COLLEGE. 

The  Chicago  Medical  College,  at  the  corner 
of  Prairie  avenue  and  Twenty-sixth  street, 
was  organized  in  March,  1859,  and  first 
known  as  the  Medical  Department  of  Lind 
University.  It  continued  under  this  title 
until  1864,  when  the  name  was  changed  to 
that  which  it  now  bears.  In  1869  it  was 
adopted  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Northwestern 
University  as  the  medical  department  of  that 
institution.  The  real  founders  were  Dr.  H. 
A.  Johnson,  N.  S.  Davis,  W.  H.  Byford,  E. 
Andrews,  B.  N.  Isham,  and  David  Butter. 
The  first  course  of  instruction  was  com- 
menced in  October,  1859,  with  a  class  of 
thirty  students.  The  present  college  building 
was  erected  in  1870.  This  institution  was 
for  ten  years  the  sole  representative  of  a 
systematic  and  graded  course  of  medical  in- 
struction in  this  country. 

FOK  WOMEN. 

In  1852  Emily  Blackwell  attended  the  first 
course  at  Bush  Medical  College,  but  was  de- 
nied a  second,  and  graduated  at  a  Cleveland 
college.  In  1866  and  in  1868  women 


CHICAGO  HOMEOPATHIC  COLLEGE. 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


35 


knocked  at  the  doors  of  Eush  College,  but 
were  denied  admission.  In  1869  four  ladies 
were  admitted  to  the  Chicago  Medical  Col- 
lege and  a  little  later  on,  Oct.  3,  1871,  the 
Woman's  Medical  College  was  organized,  the 
first  regular  course  of  lectures  being  de- 
livered at  No.  402  North  State  street.  The 
fire  destroyed  the  home  of  the  institution, 
but  Oct.  10,  before  the  fires  were  all  out,  it 
was  decided  to  go  on  with  the  enterprise. 

The  students  were  collected  at  No.  341 
West  Adams  street,  but  the  hospital 
in  connection  with  it  was  located  at  No.  598 
Adams,  and  the  college  went  there  too.  All 
this  within  one  year.  In  the  winter  of  1872 
the  Chicago  Relief  and  Aid  Society  donated 
the  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children  $25,- 
000,  and  a  hospital  was  built  at  the  corner  of 
Adams  and  Paulina  streets.  On  the  rear  of 
the  lot  was  a  small  barn,  wnich  was  used  by 
the  college.  A  new  college  building  was 
erected  in  1877,  and  in  1879  seventy 
students  were  graduated. 

EDUCATING  LAWYERS. 

Chicago  is  also  largely  engaged  in  the 
business  of  making  lawyers  for  all  the  North- 
west In  addition  to  the  number  of  young 
men  who  study  with  the  older  law  firms  of 
the  city,  there  is  the  Chicago  Law  School, 
wm'ch  was  founded  in  1859,  and  the  gradu- 
ates from  this  are  admitted  to  practice  by 
the  Supreme  Court  from  their  certificates 
and  not  by  examination  by  the  Appellate 
Court,  as  are  the  others.  This  school  since 
its  beginning  has  graduated  twenty-four 
classes  and  about  700  lawyers,  who  have 
gone  out  to  practice  in  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try. A  great  many  remain  in  the  city  to 
swell  the  large  number  of  1,400  who  are  al- 
ready engaged  in  practice  here. 

CHICAGO  HOMEOPATHIC   COLLEGE. 

ITS  FACULTY. 

The  Chicago  Homeopathic  Medical  College, 
situated  on  the  corner  of  Wood  and  York 
streets,  directly  opposite  the  great  Cook 
County  Hospital,  is  one  of  the  most  elegant 
and  commodious  educational  edifices  in  the 
city.  It  is  generally  conceded  to  be  the 
largest  and  best  equipped  homeopathic 
building  in  this  country.-  It  was  incorporated 
by  the  authority  of  the  State  of  Illinois,  in 
1876,  for  tne  purpose  of  establishing  and 
maintaining  a  high  grade  of  medical  educa- 
tion; and  its  history  has  been  one  of  con- 
tinued and  almost  phenomenal  prosperity. 

The  course  of  instructipn  in  this  institution 
is  graded,  scientific,  and  eminently  practical, 
and  every  facility  is  afforded  for  acquiring  a 
thorough  medical  education.  The  daily 
clinics  held  in  the  college  building,  lying-in 
and  general  hospitals,  give  special  advan- 
tages unsurpassed  by  any  other  homeopathic 
school. 

The  regular  faculty  consists  of  the 
following  well-known  gentlemen:  Drs.  J.  d. 
Mitchell.  A.  G.  Beebe,  J.  W.  Streeter,  G.  F. 
Roberts,  E.  N.  Foster,  J.  H.  Buffum,  E.  H. 
Pratt,  A.  W.  Woodward,  J.  B.  Kippax,  E.  N. 
Tooker.  N.  B.  Delamater,  Clifford  Mitchell, 
H.  M.  Hobart,  W.  F.  Knoll,  L  C.  Grosvenor, 
and  Curtis  Beebe. 

The  officers  of  the  college  are:  R  N.  Foster, 
A.  M.,  M.  D.,  President;  R  N.  Tooker, '  M.  D., 
Vice  President;  J.  R  Kippax,  M.  D.,  LL.  B. 


Secretary,  A.  W.  Woodward,  M.  D.,  Treas- 
urer ;  and  A.  G.  Beebe,  A.  M. ,  M.  D. ,  Manager. 

As  will  be  seen  from  the  above  list,  the 
gentlemen  of  the  faculty  are  the  leading 
physicians  of  the  new  school  in  Chicago,  and 
their  personal  character  and  professional 
reputation  are  a  sufficient  guarantee  of  the 
standing  of  the  institution  and  its  thorough 
and  complete  system  of  instruction.  Its 
object  is  not  to  graduate  as  many  students 
as  possible,  but  to  provide  those  who  do  grad- 
uate with  a  thorough  knowledge  of  medical 
and  surgical  science  and  see  that  they  are 
well  equipped  for  the  practice  of  their  pro- 
fession. A  diploma  from  the  Chicago  Ho- 
meopathic College  is  a  passport  that  the  med- 
ical profession  throughout  the  world  receives 
and  recognizes  as  an  evidence  of  ability  and 
learning. 

Students  from  outside  the  city  can  find 
pleasant  and  comfortable  boarding-places 
near  the  college  building. 


H.    B.     BRYANT'S     CHICAGO     BUSINESS 
COLLEGE. 

H.  B.  Bryant's  Chicago  Business  College, 
Pnonographic  Institute,  and  English  Train- 
ing S  chool  is  of  too  great  importance  to  be 
omitted  from  the  annual  review  of  the  lead- 
ing interests  in  Chicago.  This  great  institu- 
tion wields  a  powerful  influence  in  forming 
the  character  of  the  younger  element  that  is 
annually  added  to  the  ranks  of  the  business 
community.  Hundreds  of  well-trained  youn& 
men  and  women  pass  from  this  institution 
into  the  various  business  activities  of  the 
city  and  country  every  year.  When  it  is  re- 
membered that  this  has  "been  going  on  unin- 
terruptedly for  twenty-five  years,  some  idea 
may  be  formed  of  the  immense  influence  for 
good  thus  exerted  by  this  institution  through 
the  systematic  arrangement  of  business 
records  and  the  intelligent  management  of 
business  affairs. 

There  are  at  the  present  time  over  five 
hundred  students  in  attendance,  agd  this 
number  will  be  largely  increased  during  the 
season. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  find  any  business 
house  in  Chicago  in  which  Mr.  Bryant's  col- 
lege is  not  represented  by  its  graduatea  The 
sons  and  daughters  of  the  best  business  men 
of  the  city  are  to  be  found  in  the  classes  of. 
this  establishment  enjoying  the  advantages 
to  be  derived  from  a  faculty  of  twenty  first- 
class  instructors  and  the  sixty  or  seventy 
class  recitations  that  are  conducted  daily,  to- 
gether with  the  large  amount  of  individual 
instruction  given. 

The  apartments  are  ample  for  the  accom- 
modation of  1,000  students,  there  being 
more  than  25,000  square  feet  of  floorage. 

The  highest  standard  of  excellence  can  be 
seen  in  each  and  every  department  of  this 
institution. 

An  office  force  of  from  seven  to  ten  per- 
sons is  busily  engaged  from  morning  till 
night  in  transacting  and  recording  the  large 
and  increasing  business  of  the  establishment 

Nothing  like  it  can  be  seen  in  any  other 
business  college  of  the  country.  It  is  per- 
haps as  fair  a  representative  as  we  have  of 
business  force  and  activity  in  Chicago. 

THE   CHICAGO   VETERINARY   COLLEGE, 

situated  at  79  to  83  Twelfth  street,  char- 
tered under  the  laws  of  Illinois,  first  opened 


CHICAGO'S   FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


its  doors  to  students  Oct  15  last,  seven  en- 
tering upon  a  full  course  at  that  time,  a  lar- 
ger number  than  ever  commenced  the  in- 
itial course  of  any  similar  institution.  The 
faculty  is  composed  of  gentlemen  holding  the 
highest  rank  in  their  profession,  and  are  well 
known  throughout  the  great  Northwest 
There  is  a  grand  field  for  such  an  institution 
in  this  city,  and  we  predict  for  it  a  brilliant 
and  successful  future.  For  prospectus  and 
full  particulars  apply  to  R.  J.  Withers,  M.  D. , 
V.  S.,  Registrar. 

OUR  MUSICAL  HISTORY. 

ITS  BEGINNING   AND   ITS    PKOGEESS. 

The  musical  history  of  Chicago  may  be 
said  to  have  commenced  in  1860,  when  the 
first  opera  was  given  in  this  city  under  the 
management  of  Strakosch,  Patti  and  Brig- 


1867  gave  the  first  grand  concert  by  home 
talent.  In  1869  Theodore  Thomas  came 
with  his  famous  orchestra  for  the  first  time, 
and  thereafter  was  a  regular  visitor. 

The  fire  swept  away  the  musical  centers 
and  demoralized  the  organizations.  For  a 
time  afterward  North  Side  Turner  Hall  was 
the  only  public  place  in  which  concerts  could 
be  given,  but  in  the  winter  of  1872  Carpen- 
ter and  Sheldon  gave  a  series  of  concerts 
with  Thomas'  Orchestra  at  the  Michigan 
Avenue  Baptist  Church  on  the  South  Side 
and  the  Union  Park  Congregational  Church 
on  the  West  Side.  These  concerts  were  re- 
peat^d  the  next  year  at  the  same  places,  and 
in  1873  Strakosch  brought  Lucca  ana  Kel- 
logg for  a  season  of  opera  at  McVicker's  The- 
ater 

Then  the  Kingsbury  Music  Hall  (now  the 
Olympic  Theater)  was  built,  and  in  1874 


CENTRAL  MUSIC  HALL. 


noli  being  the  leading  stars.  They  sung  at 
McYicker's  Theater,  and  gave  scenes  from 
the  operas  without  the  aid  of  a  chorus.  la 
1862  Grau  brought  out  a  full  company  and 
gave  a  three- weeks  season  at  the  same  house. 
In  1865  Crosby's  Opera  House  was  com- 
pleted and  then  the  annual  visits  of  opera 
companies  became  regular.  The  Chicago 
Musical  College  was  founded  in  1866,  and  in 


McCormick  Hall,  on  the  North  Side,  was  com- 
pleted. In  1877  the  summer  night  concerts 
at  the  Exposition  Building  were  inaugurated, 
and  have  been  repeated  nearly  every  year 
since.  In  1880  Central  Music  Hall  was  built, 
and  now  Chicago  only  needs  a  grand  opera 
house  to  be  a  well  equipped  city  for  musical 
entertainments. 

The  Apollo  Club  was  organized  in  1873, 
with  Mr.  Dohn  as  conductor,  who  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Mr.  Tomlins,  who  came  to  Chicago 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTtTRY. 


37 


at  the  head  of  the  Richings-Bernard  Old 
Folks  Concert  Company.  Then  the  Beethoven 
Society  was  organized  by  Carl  Wolt'sohn.  and 
others  have  since  followed,  until  Chicago  can 
now  produce  as  fine  choral  music  as  can  be 
heard  anywhere  in  the  land.  The  National 
Sangerfesfc  was  held  here  in  1881,  and  a 
grand  musical  festival  in  1882,  both  doing 
much  to  stimulate  musical  culture.  The  city 
owes  much  to  Theodore  Thomas,  William  L. 
Tomlins,  Florence  Ziegfeld,  George  B.  Car- 
penter. Hans  Balatka,  and  other  leaders  in 
musical  affairs,  for  they  have  been  at  the 
head  of  its  progress. 

WEBER   MUSIC   HALL. 

THE  CENTER  OF  THE  MUSICAL  SYSTEM. 

Weber  Music  Hall  has  become  one  of  the 
established  constituents  of  our  growing  mu- 
sical system  in  Chicago,  and  it  is  within  the 
limits  of  probability  to  say  that  in  no  other 
audience-room  in  the  city  is  so  much  music 
heard  in  the  season,  and  perhaps  so  good 


within  these  walls,  sacred  to  divine  melody, 
and  on  certain  afternoons  the  ladies  of  the 
St.  Cecilia  Society,  under  the  direction  of 
Mr.  Tomlins,  of  festival  fame,  lift  their  less 
strident  and  equally  tuneful  voices  in 
preparation  for  more" formal  occasions,  while 
regular  events  of  the  musical  season  here  are 
the  concerts  and  reunions  of  the  pupils  of 
Mr.  Liebhng.  Mr.  Ledochowski,  Mme.  Rice, 
Mrs.  Cole,  Mr.  Pratt,  Miss  Fay,  Mr.  Mathews' 
et  omnes.  The  building  itself,  which  is 
shown  on  this  page,  is  a  sightly  structure 
of  quiet  but  impressive  style,  ana  elegantly 
and  suitably  furnished  and  decorated 
throughout,  both  in  the  warerooms  and  hall, 
where  the  superlative  merits  of  the  Weber 
pianos  are  shown  before  audiences  whose 
critical  acumen  is  a  crucial  test  from  which 
instruments  of  less  noble  quality  might  well 
shrink.  In  the  warerooms  may  be  seen 
samples  of  the  work  of  the  house  in  all  styles 
of  grand,  upright,  and  square  pianofortes, 
elegant  in  design  and  superb  in  case-work 
and  the  interior  musical  merits.  The  house 
makes  a  specialty  of  unique  designs  in  cases 


WEBEK  MUSIC  HALL. 


music  of  that  kind  which  is  best  understood 
by  the  phrase,  "chamber  music."  The  house 
of  Weber — long  known  for  the  superb  qual- 
ity of  the  pianos  it  produces — has  always 
found  its  interests  closely  identified  with  the 
cause  of  music,  and  if  Weber  Music  Hall 
serves  a  business  end  as  well,  it  will  not  de- 
tract from  the  sagacity  of  the  management, 
that  they  have  been  able  to  find  their  interest 
in  ministering  to  the  needs  of  mu- 
sical art.  Certainly  nothiner  has  ever 
been  provided  in  Chicago  that  is  so  near 
to  the  wants  of  professional  musicians  and 
has  so  powerfully  forwarded  the  cause  of 
musical  education  in  our  midst,  as  may  be 
instanced  by  the  uses  to  which  it  has  been 
put.  On  every  Monday  evening  the  Mozart 
Society  are  wont  to"  hold  their  rehearsal 


made  to  order  and  suited  to  the  particular 
nook  they  are  to  occupy  in  the  home  of  the 
purchaser,  having  a  number  of  such  under 
way  for  wealthy  residents  who  are  able  to 
appreciate  the  outline  of  beauty  as  well  as 
the  limpid  purity  of  tone  characteristic  of 
the  Weber  pianos. 

THE  CHICAGO  MUSICAL   COLLEGE. 

IN  ITS   SEVENTEENTH   TBAB. 

This  college,  which  in  now  in  its  seven- 
teenth year,  has  done  more  than  all  other  in- 
stitutions to  educate  the  people  and  stimu- 
late musical  culture  in  Chicago.  It  stands 
without  a  rival  in  the  West,  and  by  tne  side 
of  similar  institutions  in  Cincinnati  and  New 
York.  The  taste  for  music  was  never  absent 
from  our  people ;  it  was  only  held  in  abeyance 


CHICAGO'S  FIBST  HALtf  CENTURY. 


in  the  eager  pursuit  for  wealth,  and  needed 
only  to  be  developed.  Much,  and  it  may  be 
said  most,  of  the  development  is  due  to  the 
efforts  of  Dr.  Ziegfeld,  the  President  and 
founder  of  the  Chicago  Musical  College.  It 
occupies  a  large  portion  of  Central  Music 
Hall  building,  and  has  branches  in  the  South 
and  West  Divisions  of  the  city,  and  in  several 
of  the  larger  cities  of  the  Northwest. 

Under  the  able  and  efficient  management 
of  Dr.  F.  Ziegfeld,  President,  it  has  steadily 
and  continuously  progressed,  until  it  now 
ranks  second  to  no  musical  school  in  this 
country,  and  probably  in  the  world.  The 
faculty  in  the  different  branches  of  instruc- 
tion is  as  follows,  namely:  Piano — Dr.  P. 
Ziegfeld,  Louis  Falk,  J.  J.  Hattstaedt,  W.  E. 
Louis,  Miss  Zula  Goodman,  Miss  HattieCronk- 
hite,  Mrs.  Dr.  A.  H.  Hull,  Miss  Lizzie  M. 
Campbell,  and  Miss  L.  Clara  Osborne.  Vocal 
Music — M.  L.  Bartlett.  Organ — Louis  Falk. 
For  the  Violin — Edouard  Heimendahl  and 
Oswald  Cohen.  Violoncello — Emil  Winkler. 
In  Harmony,  Counterpoint,  Canon  and 
Fugue— Dr.  F.  Ziegfeld,  Louis  Falk, 
and  Albert  Ruff.  Free  Composition — 
W.  C.  E.  Seeboeck.  History  of 
Music — J.  J.  Hattstaedt.  Elocution — Mra 
Anna  Cowell-Hobkirk.  Physiology  of  Vocal 
Organs— Dr.  Roswell  Park.  The  German, 
French,  and  Italian  languages,  the  flute, 
harp,  guitar,  and  other  branches  of  music 
are  also  taught  by  competent  professors. 
The  aim  of  the  college  is  to  furnish  a  sym- 
metrical and  thorough  musical  education, 
equal  to  any  to  be  had  in  the  world.  Although 
careful  and  competent  instruction  is  given  in 
every  department  of  music,  the  specialties  of 
the  college  will  remain  as  they  have  been,  the 
piano,  org>an,  singing,  violin,  harmony,  com- 
position, and  elocution.  Surely  a  proficiency  in 
all  or  any  number  of  these  might  be  called  a 
good  musical  education.  Dr.  Ziegfeld,  the 
founder  of  the  college  in  1867,  is  entitled  to 
the  credit  or  its  success.  He  has  done  more 
than  any  other  man  to  advance  the  art  and 
science  of  music  in  the  West.  He  is  now  in 
the  prime  of  his  life  and  usefulness,  and  it  is 
the  hope  of  his  many  friends  that  he  will  yet 
live  many  years  in  the  enjoyment  of  health 
and  vigor  and  to  continue  his  work  as  a  true 
educator  of  the  people.  The  good  which  he 
has  conferred  upon  his  adopted  country  is 
incalculable,  and  although  no  person  now 
living  will  witness  its  entirety,  he  has  the 
proud  satisfaction  of  having  left  the  impress 
of  his  labors,  his  talents,  and  his  genius  upon 
the  culture  and  progress  of  a  whole  people. 

MUSICAL    INSTRUMENTS. 

THB  CONN  MANUFACTOBY  AT  ELKHABT. 

The  success  which  has  attended  the  efforts 
of  Mr.  C.  G.  Conn,  of  Elkhart,  Ind.,  in  the 
manufacture  of  band  instruments  reads  al- 
most like  fiction,  so  remarkable  has  been  his 
experience  as  an  inventor  and  so  rapid  has 
been  the  growth  of  his  businesa  Less  than 
seven  years  ago  he  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
musical  fraternity  an  invention  known  as 
the  Elastic  Face  Mouthpiece,  which  immedi- 
ately met  with  a  great  demand,  and  was 
pronounced  by  all  who  used  it  as  a  decided 
improvement  over  the  metal  face  mouthpiece 
then  in  general  use.  With  a  sagacity  char- 
acteristic of  the  American  people  he  foresaw 
that  there  was  an  opportunity  for  improving 
band  instruments,  and  in  a  small  shop,  em- 
ploying only  three  men,  he  began  a  series  of 
experiments  with  a  determination  to  perse- 


vere until  he  could  manufacture  the  best 
band  instruments  in  the  world.  The  first 
year  his  efforts  met  with  no  favorable 
results  except  to  convince  him  that  the 
system  of  manufacture  then  employed  was 
not  calculated  to  produce  a  good  instru- 
ment With  this  knowledge  he  invented 
what  is  known  as  the  Four-in-one  cornet. 
His  next  improvement  was  tne  patent  clear- 
bore  valve.*  Both  of  these  inventions  met 
with  ready  sale,  and  were  considered  great 
improvements.  Not  yet  satisfied  Mr.  Conn 
next  patented  the  conic  clear-bore  valve  in- 
strument, which  the  band  fraternity  de- 
manded in  so  large  a  number  a'<  to  compel 
him  to  erect  a  large  factory  and  increase  his 
facilities  for  their  production.  With  a  desire 
to  improve  he  continued  his  experiments, 
and  the  next  invention  in  band  instruments 
with  which  he  favored  the  musical  world 
was  the  celebrated  Ultimatum  valve  cornet. 

THIS  IMPEOVKMENT 

is  acknowledged  as  the  only  perfect 
instrument  ever  manufactured,  and  is 
used  by  all  of  the  celebrated  artists,  in- 
cluding Jules  Levy,  the  world's  favorite; 
Walter  Emerson,  the  great  American 
soloist;  Signer  A.  Liberati,  the  phenomenal 
Italian  virtuoso;  Henry  C.  Brown.  Boston's 
favorite;  H.  N.  Hutchins,  the  popular  artist 
of  Chicago;  H.  Schultz,  the  great  Philadel- 
phia artist;  H.  Billstedt,  the  soloist  of  Cin- 
cinnati; Louis  F.  Boos,  the  celebrated  prize- 
winner of  Michigan,  and  in  fact  all  the  prom- 
inent musicians  of  the  world,  to  which  Mr. 
Conn  furnishes  ample  testimony  in  the  pub- 
lication of  a  book  containing  over  3,000  tes- 
timonials. 

BtJBNED   OUT. 

On  Jan.  31,  1883,  his  large  factory,  which 
employed  about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
men.  was  entirely  consumed  by  fire,  destroy- 
ing his  entire  stock,  tools,  patterns,  and  ma- 
chinery, which  had  taken  him  years  to  per- 
fect and  complete.  To  many  this  loss  would 
have  been  irreparable,  but  to  Mr.  Conn  it 
signified  only  a  reverse  with  which  fortune 
had  stricken  him,  and  with  characteristic  en- 
ergy he  immediately  began  the  rebuilding  of 
his  factory,  and  in  less  than  sixty  days  was 
again  employing  over  a  hundred  men  in  the 
construction  of  band  instruments.  While 
the  loss  of  his  tools  and  machinery  was  seri- 
ous, and  financially  considered  was  a  great 
misfortune  to  him,  he  deems  that  his  loss 
has  been  a  benefit  to  his  patrous,  for  the  rea- 
son that  in  replacing  his  tools  he  has  made 
many  improvements  whicQ  would  have  never 
been  otherwise  introduced.  The  new 
factory  now  occupied  by  Mr. 
Coun  is  the  largest  in  the  world 
for  the  manufacture  of  J>,rst-class  band 
instruments,  and  is  situated  upon  the  Elkhart 
Hydraulics.  The  machinery  is  run  by  90- 
horse  water  power,  and  the  different  floors 
of  the  building  cover  an  area  space  of  over 
12,000  square  feet,  and  he  employs  over  130 
skilled  workmen,  many  of  whom  have  been 
Drought  from  the  celebrated  workshops  of 
Europe.  Each  instrument  he  manufactures 
is  constructed  upon  the  Conic  principle  and 
none  but  the  best  material  employed.  J^ach 
separate  part  is  drawn  by  the  aid  of  power- 
ful machinery  Jto  a  perfect  mathematical 
proportion  upon  steel  mandrils,  so  as  to  in- 
sure 

AS  NEAB  PEBFECTION   AS  POSSIBLE. 

and  after  each  separate  part  has 
been  fashioned  to  the  desired 
shape  and  proportions  it  is  carried  to  the 
testing-room,  where  it  ia  subjected  to  a  prac- 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


39 


tical  test  in  the  following  manner  by  a  skill- 
ful and  experienced  musician:  First,  a  per- 
fect set  of  Valves  are  chosen,  and  from  the 
different  branches  and  bells  are  selected  the 
parts  that  compose  the  instrument  and  the 
parts  that  blow  the  freest,  easiest,  and  best 
in  tune  are  adopted  for  that  particular  set  of 
valves.  The  instrument  is  then  spidered  to- 
gether, and  subjected  to  a  hydraulic  test  by 
means  of  a  powerful  pump,  after  which  the 
different  intervals  are  compared  with  the 
tones  of  a  large  organ,  and  it  is  then  ready 
for  the  finishers'  department. 

Among  the  many  ingenious  machines  used 
by  Mr.  Conn  is  one  with  which  the  holes  in 
the  valve  cases  and  the  valve  pistons  are 
drilled,  and  so  accurately  is  the  work  done 
that  each  part  can  be  duplicated  or  replaced 
at  any  future  time.  The  process  of  manu- 
facturing the  small  bends  and  crooks  is  also 
original. 

HOW    THE  INSTRUMENTS  AKE  POLISHED. 

After  the  tubing  has  been  bent  to  the  de- 
sired shape  it  is  placed  in  a  steel  mold,  and 
by  a  powerful  process  a  steel  ball  is  driven 
through  it  so  that  trie  inside  of  the  crook  is 
perfectly  polished  and  free  from  imperfec- 
tions. By  this  new  process  the  entire  instru- 
ment also  receives  a  perfect  polish  on  the 
inside  of  the  different  crooks  and  bends  so 
that  the  vibratory  current  of  air  will  pass 
through  it  without  restriction.  The  principal 
excellence  of  Mr.  Conn's  instruments  may  be 
attributed,  without  doubt,  to  his  invention 
of  the  conic  clear-bore  valves  which  permits 
a  perfect  and  even  temperament  of  tone 
throughout  the  entire  register  of  the  instru- 
ment, each  valve  tone  being  precisely  similar 
in  quality  and  volume  of  tone  to  the  open 
tones,  and  as  there  is  positively  no  stricture 
in  the  wind  passage,  the  instrument  must 
blow  easier  than  "when  the  old  system  of 
valves  is  employed,  for  it  is  an 
incontrovertible  fact  that  when 
an  instrument  has  not  a  free  open  wind 
passage  through  the  valves  it  cannot  blow 
easil}-,  and  there  will  always  be  a  brassy  flare 
in  the  tone  which  is  destructive  to  the  pro- 
duction of  pleasing  music.  The  voicing  of 
band  instruments  in  sets  is  a  feature  to  which 
Mr.  Conn  has  given  a  large  amount  of  study 
and  attention,  and  bands  who  desire  to  pro- 
vide themselves  with  instruments  with  which 
to  produce  the  best  musical  effects  should  ap- 
ply to  him  for  information.  Each  set  of  in- 
struments sent  out  from  his  factory  is  thor- 
oughly tested  and 

TUNED   BY  TRUMPET  NOTES, 

so  that  the  ensemble  may  ba£  perfect  in 
all  keys.  Nearly  all  of  Mr.  Conn's  instru- 
ments are  manufactured  for  artists  and  mili- 
tary bands,  both  in  America  and  Europe,  and 
BO  general  has  become  their  use  in  both  coun- 
tries that  scarcely  a  soloist  of  any  conse- 
quence will  be  found  without  one  of  them. 
To  all  who  may  request,  Mr.  Conn  will  send 
his  instruments  for  comparison  and  trial 
with  any  others  made  in  the  world,  pay- 
ing all  charges  for  transportation  himself 
should  they  not  be  found  superior  in  work- 
manship, durability,  ease  of  blowing,  and 
all  points  of  excellence.  Among  the  im- 
portant inventions  of  Mr.  Conn,  which  he 


manufactures  for  sale,  are  the  ultimatum 
solo  cornet,  the  vocal  cornet,  the  combined 
slide  ana  valve  trombone,  the  melophone  or 
melody  horn,  the  four-in-one  cornet,  the 
perfection  cornet,  a  new  invention  not  yet 
introduced;  the  elastic  face  mouthpiece,  the 
electric  face  mouthpiece,  the  adjustable 
mouthpiece,  which  can  be  used  for  E  flat  or  B 
flat  cornet;  theharmonia  mute  and  the  com- 
bination music  stand.  Mr.  Conn  has  also  a 
largejmusic  publishing  establishment,  and  he 
has  just  completed  a  new  process  for  print- 
ing music,  which  will  undoubtedly,  because 
of  its  cheapness,  revolutionize  the  publishing 
of  music. 

ARTISTIC    DECORATION. 

J.     B.     SULLIVAN     &   BRO.,     266   AND   268    NORTH 
CLARK  STREET. 

No  city  in  the  Union  can  boast  of  greater 
progress  in  the  matter  of  house  decoration 
than  Chicago,  and  nowhere  else  can  be 
found  more  artistic  work  than  that  which 
adorns  the  palatial  homes  of  this  city.  The 
oldest  and  most  famous  firm  in  this  line  is 
that  of  J.  B.  Sullivan  &  Brother,  266  and 
268  North  Clark  street,  who  opened  their  es- 
tablishment in  1855,  and  have  been  at  their 
present  location  ever  since.  They  have 
always  taken  the  lead  in  decorative  art  mat- 
ters, paper-hanging  and  painting,  and  their 
reputation  is  such  that  they  are  called 
to  do  the  most  expensive  and  elabor- 
ate work  all  over  the  West.  What 
Tiffany  is  to  New  York,  the 
Sullivans  are  to  Chicago.  Their  designers  and 
decorators  are  the  most  celebrated  in  the 
West,  and  their  work  is  famous  for  its  origin- 
ality and  artistic  merit.  The  Tabor  Opera 
House,  of  Denver,  known  the  world  over  as 
the  finest  in  America,  was  decorated  by  them, 
as  was  also  the  Grand  Opera  House  at  Chi 
cagp,  the  Grand  Opera  House  at  Colorado 
Springs,  and  other  theaters  in  the  West. 

The  contract  for  decorating  the  New  Or- 
leans Cotton  Exchange,  one  of  the  most  mag- 
nificent trade  palaces  in  the  world,  was 
awarded  to  them,  and  they  have 
been  called  to  Minneapolis  to  beautify 
the  new  million-dollar  hotel  there. 
They  decorated  the  Windsor  Hotel 
at  Denver,  "The  Antlers"  at  Colorado 
Springs,  and  the  Palmer  House  of  Chicago. 
Illustrations  of  their  church  worK  can  be 
found  in  the  Episcopal  Cathedral  at  Omaha, 
the  Catholic  Church  at  Danville,  111.,  the 
Methodist  Church  at  Ottawa,  the  Congrega- 
tional Church  at  Watertown,  Wis. ,  the  Unity, 
New  England,  and  other  churches  in  Chi- 
cago. The  Chicago  Club,  the  Illinois  Club, 
and  the  new  First  National  Bank  Building 
were  decorated  by  them,  and  the  residences 
of  Samuel  W.  Allerton,  Marvin  Hughitt,  H.  H. 
Porter,  8.  M.  Nickerson,  Perry  H.  Smith, 
Henry  W.  King,  Julian  S.  Rumsey,  Henry 
Strong,  W.  E.  Strong,  and  those  of  many 
other  gentlemen  of  wealth  and  artistio 
las  to. 


CHAPTER  IL 


THE    ART    PRESERVATIVE. 

NEWSPAPEB    HISTORY. 

J-EOM     THE     DEMOCRAT     TO     THE    INTBB   OCEAN. 

It  would  take  up  too  much,  space  to  give 
the  history  in  detail  of  the  time  when 
the  great  city  was  a  village,  or  to  tell 
even  a  small  part  of  the  incidents  illustrative 
of  early  life  in  Chicago.  But  it  was  no  doubt 
a  happy,  contented  life  the  early  settlers  led, 
if  it  was  at  times  tilled  with  hardships.  They 
were  a  free  and  easy  people,  and  were  all  on 
a  level,  without  caste  in  society.  When  there 
was  a  wedding  everybody  went,  and  when 
there  was  a  dance  all  the  boys  were  there. 
It  would  form  an  interesting  group  to  see 
these  men — all  of  them  since  prominent  in 
local,  State,  or  National  affairs — assembled 
on  the  floor  of  the  dining-room  at  the  old 
Sauganash,  the  Green  Tree,  or  the  Western 
Hotels,  marching  through  the  Virginia 
reel,  or  wnirling  through  a  waltz. 
There  would  De  the  stalwart  form 
of  Long  John  Wentworth,  Judge  Caton, 
the  Hon.  Isaac  N.  Arnold,  and  a  score  of  others 
as  well  known. 

There  was  no  daily  paper  then  to  chronicle 
the  events  of  the  day.  and  we  have  left  no 
reports  of  the  political  meetings  at  which 
speeches  were  made  by  Long  John  Went- 
worth. Judge  Caton,  J.  Y  Scammon,  and 
others,  and  a  great  loss  to  the  history  of  Chi- 
cago it  is  that  these  are  missing. 

THE  FIRST  NEWSPAPEB. 

Neither  were  there  any  reports  made  of  the 
parties,  and  we  don't  know  what  the  belles 
of  Chicago  wore  in  1833.  There  was  not  a 
newspaper  of  any  kind  published  here  when 
the  village  was  incorporated,  and  it  was  not 
until  Nov.  26,  1833,  three  months  after  the 
incorporation  of  Chicago  village,  that  the 
people  had  a  newspaper  of  their  own.  This 
was  a  six-column  tour-page  sheet  called  the 
Chicago  Democrat,  and  published  by  John 
Calhoun,  who  had  just  arrived  from  Sackett's 
Harbor  a  few  weeks  before. 

It  was  about  the  middle  of  September, 
1833,  that  Mr.  Calhoun  shipped  his  printing- 
press,  type,  and  other  material,  includiner  a 
small  quantity  of  paper,  from  Sackett's  Har- 
bor in  charge  of  two  apprentices.  A  three- 
weeks'  voyage  brought  them  to  Chicago  early 
in  October.  When  Mr.  Calhoun  arrived  he 
found  his  apprentices  at  the  Wolf  Tavern, 
then  kept  by  Chester  IngersolL  He  secured 


an  office  in  the  second  story  of  a  building 
which  was  then  being  erected  at  the  south- 
west corner  of  South  Water  and  Clark 
streets.  By  helping  on  with  the  work,  hold- 
ing a  candle  while  Ashbel  Steele  plastered 
the  room  at  night,  it  was  soon  ready  for 
occupancy. 

WHAT   SHOULD   IT  BE. 

Then  the  editor  stopped  to  consider  what 
should  be  the  politics  of  his  paper.  He  did 
not  know  whether  to  take  a  neutral  stand  or 
one  side  of  the  political  question. 

Being  an  ardent  admirer  of  President  An- 
drew Jackson  he  concluded  to  be  a  Demo- 
crat, and  therefore  the  name  of  his  paper. 

The  Chicago  Democrat  was  published  every 
Tuesday  and  the  terms  of  subscription  were 
$2. 50  in  advance.  The  paper  received  a  lib- 
eral patronage,  many  of  the  citizens  sub- 
scribing for  three  and  four  copies  each  to 
have  sent  to  their  friends  in  the  East.  This 
little  weekly  was  the  beginning  of  journalism 
in  Chicago  and  its  first  numbers  outlined  the 
policy  of  Chicago  papers  ever  since — making 
local  improvements  of  more  importance 
than  outside  affairs.  The  Democrat  advo- 
cated the  completing  of  a  railroad  to 
Chicago,  which  was  already  moving 
Westward,  and  it  urged  the  building 
of  the  canaL  In  the  winter  of  1834  the 
editor  ran  out  of  paper,  and  had  to  suspend 
his  publication  until  the  following  spring. 

The  subscription  list  of  the  Democrat  in  its 
first  years  contains  the  names  of  147  people, 
so  we  can  see  that  Chicago  journalism,  like 
all  great  things,  had  a  small  beginning.  But 
Mr.  Calhoun  also  ran  a  job -printing  office  in 
connection  with  his  paper,  and  his  account 
book  shows  that  printing  ball  tickets  was  no 
inconsiderable  item.  He  also  printed  the 
government  blanks  for  the  land  office,  and 
for  want  of  a  lever  press  his  wife  ironed  out 
the  sheets  with  a  flat-iron. 

The  last  issue  of  the  paper  by  Mr.  Calhoun 
bears  date  Nov.  16,  1836.  Then  it  was  sold 
to  Isaac  Hill,  and  immediately  transferred  to 
John  Wentworth. 

FIBST  DAILY  PAPEB. 

The  American  was  the  first  daily  paper  in 
Chicago  and  in  the  State  of  Illinois.  It  was 
started  by  William  Stewart  April  9,  1839.  It 
was  discontinued  for  want  of  support  Oct.  17, 
1842,  and  on  the  last  day  of  the  same  month 
W.  W.  Brackett,  who  had  been  one  of  its 
editors,  started  the  Express  as  its  successor. 
In  1844  the  political  friends  of  Henry  Clay 
bought  out  the  Express,  and  started  the 
Journal  as  a  Whig  paper,  the  first  number 
being  issued  April  22,  1844.  The  stock- 
holders appointed  an  editorial  committee, 
consisting  of  T.  J.  Lisle  Smith,  W.  H.  Brown, 
George  W.  Meeker.  J.  Y.  Scammon.  and  Grant 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


41 


Goodrich,  with  R.  L.  Wilson  and  J.  W.  Norris 
as  office  editors  and  business  managers. 

This  was  the  small  beginning  of  journalism 
In  Chicago,  and  it  has  branched  out  until  it 
would  be  almost  impossible  to  give  its  history. 
The  little  beginning  made  by  Mr.  Calhoun 
would  now  cover  one  of  the  largest  industries 
in  the  city.  The  man  who  then  wrote  leaders, 
reported  balls  and  dog  fights,  and  edited  all  the 
copy,  besides  setting  the  type  and  running 
the  presses,  and  his  little  weekly  paper 
would  find  that  fifty  years  had  put  a  great 
difference  between  the  paper  of  1833  and 
that  of  1883,  and  that  his  work  was  now 
done  by  not  less  than  10,OOO  people. 

It  would  be  a  great  surprise  to  the  editor 
of  the  Democrat  to  see  so  many  men  taking 
care  of  his  work  in  so  short  a  time  as  fifty 
years. 

SOME    FIGURES. 

There  are  now  in  Chicago  more  than  2,000 
printers — men  who  do  nothing  but  set  the 
type  for  the  volumes  of  matter  prepared  for 
them  in  book  or  newspaper  articles,  bills, 
or  other  forms  of  advertisements. 
There  are  250  printing  establishments  out- 
side the  newspaper  offices,  and  there  are  over 
300  publishers  who  employ  from  half  a 
dozen  to  a  hundred  men.  The  great  dailies 
have  from  100  to  200  men  at  work  on  them 
in  various  capacities,  and  truly  the  little 
printing  office  started  in  1833  has  grown 
into  a  great  surprise. 

The  list  of  newspapers  and  periodicals  and 
other  publications  issued  regularly  includes 
275,  and  they  run  from  the  daily  paper  to 
the  advertising  sheet  sent  out  by  large  in- 
dustries. Not  a  branch  of  trade  is  without 
its  organ. 

A    STRIKING    COMPARISON. 

There  can  be  no  better  illustration  of  the 
growth  of  Chicago  than  is  furnished  by  a 
comparison  of  THE  INTEB  OCEAN  of  1883  with 
the  Democrat  of  1833. 

In  place  of  the  147  subscribers  who  read 
the  Democrat  fifty  years  ago,  THE  INTEK 
OCEAN  now  sends  out  everv  week  more  than 
300,000  copies,  reaching  150,000  families. 

Instead  of  one  man  as  "editor,  printer,  and 
mail  clerk,  occupying  a  single  room  in  the 
second  story  of  a  little  frame  building,  THE 
INTER  OCEAN  now  has  a  great  block,  in  which 
200  men  are  employed,  with  a  weekly  pay- 
roll that  would  be  sufficient  to  equip  more 
than  fifty  printing  offices  such  as  that  which 
Mr.  Calhoun  established  in  1883. 

Instead  of  having  the  papers  printed  by 
the  wife  of  the  editor  passing  her  fiat-iron 
over  the  type,  THE  INTER  OCEAN  is  produced 
upon  three  of  the  finest  presses  in  the  world, 
with  a  capacity  of  50,000  an  hour,  and  by 
which  the  papers  are  printed,  folded,  cut, 
and  pasted  by  a  single  process. 

THE  INTER  OCEAN  prints  as  many  papers 
each  week  as  would  have  supplied  the  sub- 
scribers of  the  Democrat  for  twenty  years. 
And  instead  of  receiving  its  news 
by  a  half-breed  Indian  on  a  pony, 
once  a  week,  or  by  a  vessel  around  the  fakes, 
semi-occasionally,  it  has  private  telegraphic 
wires  to  New  York  and  Washington,  and  cor- 
respondents in  every  part  of  the  globe.  It 
receives  seven  cablegrams  from  London, 
where  the  editor  of  the  Democrat  received  a 
letter  once;  and  pays  pays  each  month  for 
news  an  amount  that,  in  his  time,  would 
have  been  considered  a  princely  fortune. 

The  postage  account  of  tne  paper — the 
money  it  expends  to  prepay  the  postage 
upon  its  mail  edition — reached  over  $20,000 
last  year;  proving,  by  the  official  records,  that 


it  had  the  largest  circulation  of  any  weekly 
paper  in  the  United  States. 

CHICAGO    NEWSPAPER    UNION. 

REPRESENTING  550  PUBLISHERS. 

The  metropolitan  proportions  assumed  by 
successful  business  ventures  and  corpora- 
tions in  Chicago  has  no  more  striking  illustra- 
tion than  is  presented  by  the  growth  and 
present  extended  operations  of  the  Chicago 
Newspaper  Union.  Established  in  October, 
1870,  it  was  left  by  the  great  fire,  one  of  the 
largest  printing  houses  In  the  city.  Steady 
growth  compelled  removal  to  114  Monroe 
street,  and  from  there  to  the  present  and  per- 
manent location  at  271  and  273  Franklin 
street,  where  substantially  the  entire 
large  building  is  occupied.  This  success, 
like  all  permanent  business  success,  rests 
upon  the  supply  of  something  needed  and 
demanded  by  the  people.  In  most  instances 
the  publisher  of  the  country  journal,  although 
encouraged  by  good  words  and  the  moral 
support  of  tiie  community,  is  not  blessed 
with  such  substantial  income  as  will  warrant 
heavy  expenditure  on  general  editorial  work. 
If  he  gives  due  attention  to  local  news 
and  interests  it  is  about  all  he 
can  do,  with  profit.  Here  the 

Chicago  Newspaper  Union  steps  in,  to  the  re- 
lief of  the  overworked  editor  and  the  tangi- 
ble benefit  of  his  subscribers.  It  furnishes 
him  with  an  important  portion  of  his  paper, 
ready  printed.  Upon  this  part  of  his  journal 
he  has  the  help  of  trained  journalists,  who 
provide  his  readers  with  matter  fresh,  read- 
able, condensed,  and  carefully  edited.  He 
knows,  and  his  patrons  know,  that  no  matter 
of  any  importance  will  escape  the  notice  of 
these  associates  or  fail  of  due  attention  at 
their  hands.  Thus  relieved,  he  has  time  to 
m  ke  for  his  readers  a  better  local  paper  than 
he  otherwise  could,  and  he  gives  them  a  bet- 
ter general  newspaper  than  could  be  pro- 
vided on  any  other  plan  at  ten  times  the  ex- 
pense. The  Chicago  Newspaper  Union  now 
supplies  partially  printed  sneets  to  over  550 
publishers.  It  reserves  a  limited  space  for 
advertising  in  each  paper,  and  as  these  are 
the  home  papers,  read  and  reread  through 
the  week,  no  better  ad  vertising  medium  can 
be  found.  The  present  officers  are:  Presi- 
dent, John  F.  Cramer,  and  Manager  C.  E. 
Strong.  Fifty  skilled  employes  are  kept 
busy  and  eight  modern  presses.  The  Union 
also  publishes  the  Chicago  Ledger,  a  weekly 
literary  journal,  circulating  from  ten  to  fif- 
teen thousand  copies.  The  establishment 
also  deals  in  printers'  supplies,  carrying  in 
stock  all  material  for  newspaper  or  job  print- 
ing outfits,  together  with  a  complete  stock  of 
papers  and  envelopes. 

THE    PUBLISHING    TRADE, 

ITS   RAPID   GBOWTH. 

For  many  years  Chicago  was  content  to 
leave  the  book  publishing  business  to  East- 
ern cities,  but  since  1860  this  line  of  trade 
has  developed  to  a  surprising  extent,  so  that 
now  Chicago  ranks  fourth  among  American 
cities  in  this  industry.  In  1882  over 
3,000,000  books  were  turned  out  by  Chi- 
cago publishers.  Its  total  publishing  busi- 
ness in  1880,  including  printing,  binding, 
lithograp  jing,  newspapers,  etc.,  engaged 


42 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUBY. 


226  establisnments,  $2,610,000  capital, 
4,740  employes,  and  turned  off  products  of 
the  value  of  $9,075,000. 

A  feature  of  the  publishing  business  which 
has  developed  of  late  years  to  a  marvelous 
degree  is  the  production  and  sale  of  books  to 
be  sold  by  subscription  This  is  manifested 
by  the  statistics  of  the  subscription  book 
agencies.  It  is  reported  that  one  Eastern 
firm  has  through  such  agencies  taken  orders 
for  more  than  250,000  copies  of  a  single 
work  since  the  first  day  of  last  August  Chi- 
cago is  following  close  after  its  Eastern  com- 
petitors in  this  trade,  and  many  of  the  most 
successful  publications  of  this  nature  are 
issued  here. 
jgAs  one  method  of  ascertaining  what 

THE  BOOK  APPETITE 

of  the  toiling,  reading  and  thinking  Amer- 
ican masses  calls  for,  it  is  worth  while  to 
note  the  contents  of  one  of  this  class  of 
works.  On  the  shelf  behind  us  stands  a  work 
entitled  "The  Secrets  of  Success  in  Business 


tail  Business,  Railroading  and  Express  Busi- 
ness, The  Chicago  Board  of  Trade,  The  Union 
Stock  Yards.  Mining,  Wall  Street  and  the  New 
York  Stock  Exchange.  That  such  books  sell 
far  more  rapidly  than  romances  is  an  indica- 
tion that  the  American  mind  prefers  fact  to 
fiction,  substance  to  fancy. 

DIAGBAMS   AND   PICTOBIAL  ILLUSTBATIONS 

are  employed  in  teaching  nowadays  much 
more  than  ever  before.  They  are  absolutely 
requisite  to  the  clear  understanding  of  most 
subjects,  and  the  people  know  it  The  book 
above  mentioned  answers  to  this  popular  re- 
quirement, for  it  contains  about  200  dia- 
grams and  engravings,  some  of  which  are 
said  to  have  cost  several  hundred  dollars 
each.  The  one  above  illustrates  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Chicago  Bank  Clearing-house,  an 
institution  through  which  the  banks  of  this 
great  city  make  daily  settlements,  aggregat- 
ing millions  on  millions  of  dollars.  The  en- 
graving is  accompanied  with  others  on  the 
same  subject,  and  several  quarto  pages  of 


CHICAGO  CLEARING  HOUSE. 


Life,"  a  late  addition  to  the  text-books  of  the 
people's  home  college.  It  is  the  result  of 
years  of  study  and  experience  by  men  whose 
business  it  has  been  to  master  the  problems 
of  commercial  and  manufacturing  transac- 
tions and  transportation  and  teach  them  to 
others — Messrs.  G.  L.  Howe  and  O.  M.  Pow- 
ers, conjoint  principals  of  the  Metropolitan 
Business  College  of  this  city.  Now,  a  work 
of  this  nature,  admirably  adapted  to  school 
young  men  and  women  in  the  lessons  of 
practical  life,  in  the  art  of  getting  on  in 
the  world,  touches  the  whole  race  of  bread- 
winners on  a  rubject  in  which  they  are  all  in- 
terested, and  it  is  not  surprising  that  shrewd 
subscription  agents,  versed  in  the  wants  of 
the  people,  are  eagerly  engaged  in  pushing 
the  sale  of  it 

The  following  are  a  few  of  the  chapter 
heads:  Business  Writing,  Business  Forms, 
Political  History  of  the  United  States,  Book- 
keeping, Elements  of  Success  in  Business, 
The  Bank  Clearing  House,  Wholesale  and  Be- 


explanation,  prepared  with  the  assistance  of 
the  Manager  of  the  Clearing-house,  William 
Henry  Smith,  Esq.  Similarly  lucid  explana- 
tions follow  all  the  200  illustrations. 

Add  to  such  a  work  a  good  dictionary  of 
the  English  language,  a  good  cyclopedia,  a 
standard  history  of  the  United  States  and  a 
wisely  compiled  synopsis  of  universal  his- 
tory, and  a  first-class  newspaper,  and  the 
possessor's  home  college  mav  produce  self- 
taught  men  and  women  ready  to  achieve 
greater  success  in  life  than  the  average  col- 
lege graduate. 

THE   CUKRENT. 

THIS  SPLENDID  LITEBABY  WEEKLY 

has  fairly  captured  the  whole  country,  and 
Chicago  and  the  entire  West  are  justly  proud 
of  its  magnificent  achievement.  Upward  of 
eight  hundred  leading  publications  through- 
out the  United  States  and  Canada  have  pro- 
nounced it  the  handsomest,  ablest,  and  most 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUBY. 


interesting1  weekly  periodical  in  the  United 
States.  Its  success,  though  phenomenal,  is 
deserved.  It  has  been  wholly  the  result  of 
years  of  thorough  preparatory  work.  Its 
subscription  list  is  already  as  large  as  most 
of  the  old-established  periodicals  and  it  cov- 
ers every  State  and  Territory  in  the  Union, 
as  well  as  an  important  foreign  constituency. 
The  Current  gives,  each  week — not  once  a 
month  in  the  dreary,  half-forgotten  fash- 
ion of  the  monthlies — brief,  terse,  and 
intelligent  discussion  of  all  matters  of  real 
human  interest;  and,  besides  this,  furnish 
the  largest  number  of  brief,  valuable,  and 
fascinating  literary  articles,  including  poems, 
short  stories,  serials,  sketches,  essays,  papers, 
and  political  and  scientific  discussions,  of 
any  weekly  publication  in  the  world.  It  has 
already  engaged  and  has  first  manuscripts 
from  upward  of  100  of  the  best  known 
writers  of  America  and  Europe.  The  Current 
is  clean,  noble,  and  elevating,  and  deserves  a 
place,  as  it  will  surely  have,  in  the  home  of 
every  intelligent  family  in  America.  The 
subscription  price  is  only  $4  per  year.  Send 
for  it.  Address  simply  the  Current,  Chicago. 

AMERICAN  PRESS  ASSOCIATION. 

TWO  HUNDEED   DAILY  PAPERS. 

This  association,  established  in  Chicago 
Aug.  1,  1882,  and  later  in  New  York,  Cincin- 
nati, and  St.  Louis,  serve  over  200  daily  papers 
witn  8,000  words  of  the  latest  news,  stereo- 
typed and  expressed  night  and  morning. 
This  service  is  supplemented  by  a  wire  re- 
port. They  also  supply  several  hundred  pa- 
pers with  fresh  miscellany,  short  and  con- 
tinued storiea  Their  latest  feature  is  the 
furnishing  of  original  matter,  obtained  at 
great  expense  from  the  most  popular  writers. 

THE  REMINGTON  TYPE- WRITER 

is  unqualifiedly  superior  to  all  other  type- 
writing machines  in  principle,  in  construc- 
tion, in  material  used,  in  workmanship,  and 
in  speed.  It  is  also  more  durable,  easier  to 
separate,  and  in  every  way  more  desirable 
than  any  invention  of  the  kind  which  has 
been  offered  to  the  public.  Merchants,  law- 
yers, and  journalists  now  use  the  Remington 
Type-writer,  and  are  largely  dispensing  with 
the  services  of  pen-copyists  at  a  vast  saving1 
of  time  and  money.  It  is  sold  oy  Wyckoff, 
Seaman  &  Bendict,  No.  38  Madison  street. 

PAPER  AND  STATIONERY. 

BRADNER  SMITH  &  CO. 

MANUFACTUBEBS   AND   DEALEBS  IN  PAPEB. 

The  firm  of  Bradner  Smith  &  Co. ,  manufac- 
turers and  dealers  in  paper,  is  just  twenty 
years  younger  than  the  city  of  Chicago,  hav- 
ing been  established  in  1853  at  No.  12  La 
Salle  street  in  a  little  store  20x60  feet  in  size. 
It  was  a  small  beginning,  but  the  firm  has 
kept  even  pace  with  the  development  of  Chi- 
cago, and  has  kept  growing  each  year  as  the 
city  has  grown  until  it  is  now  the  largest  in 
Chicago,  and  one  of  the  largest  in  the  world, 
doing  a  business  of  $2,000,000  a  year.  The 
firm  has  now  three  establishments  in  the  city 
of  Chicago,  branch  houses  at  Kansas  City, 
Minneapolis,  and  St.  Paul,  and  operates  six 


paper  mills,  manufacturing  and  selling  every 
sort  and  size  of  news,  book,  wrapping,  wri- 
ting, blotting,  and  other  papers,  card  board, 
envelopes,  twines,  wood  pulp,  and  paper 
manufacturers'  supplies. 

There  was  very  little  paper  manufactured 
in  the  West  when  Bradner  Smith  &  Co.  com- 
menced business,  and  most  of  their  stock 
was  brought  from  Eastern  mills,  but  now 
they  not  only  make  their  own  stock,  but  sup- 
ply hundreds  of  other  houses  with  their  man- 
ufactures, shipping  paper  by  the  train  load 
from  their  several  mills. 

Bradner  Smith  &  Co.  commenced  manufac- 
turing in  1854  at  Rockton,  111.,  having  that 
year  purchased  the  Winnebago  mill,  which 
now  makes  ten  tons  per  day  of  express,  man- 
ilia,  rag,  and  straw  wrapping  paper. 
They  continue  to  operate  this  mill, 
and  their  other  manufactories  are  the  Led- 
yard  Pulp  Mill,  at  Ledyard,  Wis.,  which 
makes  four  tons  of  dry 'pulp  per  day;  the 
Rozet  Mill,  at  Three  Rivers,  which  produces 
four  tons  per  day  of  print  and  book  paper ; 
the  Tippecanoe  Paper  Mill,  at  Monticello,  Ind.. 
which  makes  two  tons  of  print  paper  daily. 
The  Marinette  Mill,  at  the  place  of  the  same 
name  in  Wisconsin,  manufactures  five  tons 
of  print  paper,  and  the  mill  at  Menoimnee, 
Mich. ,  produces  four  tons  of  manilla  paper 
and  six  tons  of  wood  pulp  daily. 

Besides  their  own  manufactories,  Bradner 
Smith  &  Co.  carry  all  varieties  of  fancy 
goods,  wedding  and  other  stationery,  im- 
ported and  domestic,  the  Hurlbut  plate 
paper,  Crane's  pure  linen  flats,  the  Ger- 
manic flat  and  ledger  papers,  and  all  other 
classes  of  goods  used  by  stationers,  printers, 
book- binders,  and  publication  houses.  Regu- 
lar sizes  and  standard  weights  are  always  in 
stock,  but  special  sizes  and  weights  can  be 
made  to  order  and  furnished  promptly  at 
mill  prices,  the  facilities  of  the  firm  for  sup- 
plying the  trade  being  unequaled  by  any 
house  in  the  West.  A  full  stock  of  colored 
papers  is  always  on  hand,  ana  fancy  papers 
for  special  purposes  will  be  made  to  order  in 
quantities  to  suit.  They  are  also  manufac- 
turers of  the  very  best  map  paper,  ana  will 
furnish  any  weight  or  size  desired  at  short 
notice.  In  cover  papers  Bradner  Smith  &  Co. 
have  the  larirest  and  best-assorted  stock  in 
the  country,  East  or  West. 

The  firm  are  sole  agents  for  the  sale  of 
Weston's  pure  linen  ledger  and  record  pa- 
pers, which  were  awarded  the  gold  medal  at 
the  Paris  Exposition  and  the  highest  award 
at  the  Centennial  Exposition  for  a  combina- 
tion of  all  the  desirable  qualities.  They  are 
also  sole  agents  for  the  celebrated  "commer- 
cial safety  paper."  for  checks,  notes,  bills  of 
exchange,  bonds,  letters  of  credit,  etc..  which 
has  been  officially  indorsed  and  recommended 
by  the  clearing-house  authorities  of  the 
principal  cities  of  the  country.  This  is  really 
a  safety  paper,  combining  positive  security 
from  fraudulent  alterations,  either  by  the 
use  of  chemical  agents  or  mechanical  means. 
Tbis  paper  is  made  from  the  very  best  mate- 
rials, treated  chemically  in  its  manufacture 
with  agents  which  give  positive  results.  Any 
attempt  at  alteration  by  chemical  means  im- 
mediately destroys  the  color  in  the  body  of 
the  paper,  also  the  surface  tinting  or  lining, 
which,  being  once  destroyed,  cannot  be  re- 
stored. 

Bradner  Smith  &  Co.  make  a  specialty  of 
fancy  ruling,  using:  only  the  very  best  inks, 


44 


] 
CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


which,  for  brilliancy  of  color  and  durability, 
are  not  excelled.  They  also  carry  a  full  line 
of  all  colors, sizes,  and  styles  of  envelopes, and 
will  make  odd  sizes  to  order.  All  kinds  of 
fancy  stationery  and  stationers'  sundries 
are  kept  in  stock,  and  also  a  full  line  of  illus- 
trated advertising'  cards,  manufactured  by 
Marques,  Gair  &  Bailey,  of  Paris,  London,  and 
New  York. 

The  reputation  of  the  firm  and  the  charac- 
ter of  their  goods  needs  no  indorsement.  A 
record  of  thirty  years  of  active  business 
places  them  at  the 'head  of  the  trade  in  the 
West,  and  their  references  are  their  cus- 
tomers. 

THE    J.    M.    W.    JONES 

STATIONERY   AND   FEINTING   COMPANY 

is  the  oldest  and  most  extensive  establish- 
ment of  the  kind  in  Chicago,  and  has  no 
rival  in  this  country.  The  house  was  es- 
tablished thirty -five  years  ago  and  has  been 
under  the  general  management  of  Mr.  J.  M. 
W.  Jones,  the  veteran  stationer  of  Chicago 
and  a  leading  business  man  for  a  period  of 
twenty-six  years.  No  mercantile  house 
could  enjoy  a  higher  reptuation  than  this 
one  in  the  estimation  of  Chicagoans,  and  no 
concern  is  more  entirely  deserving  of  popu- 
larity. The  house  possesses  every  facility 
for  conducting  a  first-class  business,  and 
now  offer  to  the  public  as  fine  a  stock  at  as 
low  prices  as  was  ever  exhibited  in  this  city. 

THE  J.  W.  BUTI.EK  PAPER  COMPANY. 

A  WELL-KNOWN    LANDMARK. 

Any  list  of  prominent  business  concerns  of 
the  city  would  be  incomplete  indeed  without 
reference  to  the  well-known  landmark  in 
Chicago  business  circles,  the  name  of  which 
heads  this  paragraph.  The  J.  W.  Butler  Paper 
Company  is  the  direct  successor  of  the  firm 
of  Butler  and  Hunt,  which  commenced  the 
paper  business  at  48  State  street  in  1844,  the 
senior  member  of  the  firm  being  Mr.  Owen 
Butler.  From  the  first  the  policy  of  the  house 
has  been  a  safe  enterprise,  controlled  oysuch 
conservatism  as  sought  legitimate  growth, 
rather  than  any  brilliant  venture.  Under 
this  policy  the  business  has  grown  to  be  un- 
surpassed in  the  magnitude  of  its  trade  and 
the  amount  and  variety  of  paper  carried.  In 
no  other  house  can  be  found  so  large  a  variety 
of  stock,  the  J.  W.  Butler  Paper  Company 
handling  tfie  production  of  fifteen  paper 
mills.  The  mammoth  proportions  the  busi- 
ness has  assumed,  fully  occupy  51,300  square 
feet  of  flooring,  and  the  books  show  average 
sales  amounting  to  twenty  tons  of  paper  per 
day. 

THE    SKEEN     &     STUART      STATIONERY 
COMPANY 

was  established  within  the  present  year,  suc- 
ceeding the  old  and  popular  house  of  Skeen 
&  Stuart,  which  was  organized  in  1873.  The 
new  company  commenced  business  with  a 
capital  of  $100,000,  and  with  Mr.  J.  C.  Skeen 
as  President,  E.  C.  Stuart  Vice  President,  H. 
E.  Thayer  Secretary,  and  Dwight  Jackson 
Treasurer.  The  company  do  a  large  and 
rapidly  extending  business  as  wholesale  and 
retail  stationers,  printers,  blank-book  manu- 
facturers, and  lithographers.  Their  wstab- 


lishment,  No.  77  Madison  street,  is  one  of  the 
largest  of  the  kind  in  the  city,  and  supplied 
with  every  appliance  which  such  a 
business  could  by  any  possibil- 
ity require.  Their  stock  is  complete 
in  every  detail,  their  prices  cannot  be  dis- 
counted, and  their  work  is  perfect  Messrs. 
Skeen  &  Stuart  have  a  multitude  of  friends 
in  Chicago — friends  who  have  been  made  in 
the  best  of  all  ways,  in  the  course  of  busi- 
ness, and  who  have  been  retained  because 
they  find  it  for  their  business  interests  to 
continue  old  relations.  The  specialty  of  this 
company  is  commercial  stationery,  printing, 
and  blank  books.  In  these  departments  of 
their  great  business  it  is  safe  to  say  that  they 
cannot  be  excelled. 

PRINTERS  AND  ENGRAVERS. 


W.    P.    1>UNN    &    CO. 

ARTISTIC    PRINTING. 

When  anybody  in  Chicago  wlio  is  really 
posted  wishes  something  elaborately  nice  in 
the  way  of  artistic  printing  they  go  instinct- 
ively to  W.  P.  Dunn  &  Co.'s,  No.  57  Washing- 
ton street.  The  head  of  this  concern,  which 
is  now  so  well  known  in  Chicago,  is  an  old 
INTER  OCEAN  employe,  and  while  in  that  em- 
ploy made  it  so  constantly  manifest  that  he 
was  a  first-class  man,  that  it  was  no  matter  of 
surprise  when  he  suddenly  struck  out  on  his 
own  account,  and  made  just  such  a  pro- 
nounced success  as  such  a  man  in  any  de- 
partment of  life  invariably  achieves 
when  he  determines  to  take  the  chances 
which  are  inevitable  in  every  business 
career.  Mr.  Dunn  understood  the  printers' 
art  in  every  particular  before  he  attempted 
to  establish  a  printing  house  in  this  city  of 
printers,  and  he  has  so  constantly  given  his 
attention  to  the  minor  details  of  his  business, 
and  has  so  persistently  secured,  regardless 
of  expense,  the  best  workmen  to  be  had,  that 
he  has  secured  for  his  establishment  a  repu- 
tation which  it  is  safe  to  say  is  second  to  that 
of  no  printing  house  west  of  the  Atlantic 
seaboard.  It  is  not  with  the  miscellaneous 
public  alone  that  Messrs.  Dunn  &  Co.  have 
succeeded  in  securing  customers,  but 
these  gentlemen  have  so  emphatically 
made  their  mark  in  their  own  peculiar  avoca- 
tion that  the  daily  newspaper  offices  of  Chi- 
cago have  fallen  into  a  way  of  looking  to 
them  for  assistance  in  any  emergency  that 
arises. 

THE  INTER  OCEAN  Company  is  pleased  to 
acknowledge  that  Messrs.  W.  P.  Dunn  &  Co. 
have  printed  the  musical  supplement,  which 
has  been  such  an  attractive  feature  of  their 
Wednesday  issue  for  a  long  time,  in  a  man- 
ner which  has  redounded  not  only  to  their 
credit,  but  which  has  been  entirely  satisfac- 
tory to  the  patrons  of  this  journal. 

Messrs.  Dunn  &  Co.  are  prepared,  at  their 
elaborately  furnished  and  provided  headquar- 
ters, to  do*  anything  and  everything  m  the 
way  of  job,  book,  circular,  or  catalogue  print- 
ing" Tne  firm  has  every  modern  appliance 
in  the  shape  of  presses  and  material.  They 
omploy  about  fifty  workmen— ail  experts 


CHICAGO'S  1-IBST  HALF  OENTUHY. 


45 


— and  do  not  permit  any  other  printing  house 
in  Chicago  to  underbid  them  in  price,  or  to  do 
more  thoroughly  artistic  work. 

CRUMP    LAlir.L.    COMPANY. 

A  SINGULAE    INDUSTRY. 

Among  the  interesting  and  singular  indus- 
tries of  the  age  may  be  classed  label  print- 
ing. The  demand  for  labels  has  reached  as- 
tonishing-proportions in  the  last  few  years ; 
nearly  every  package,  box,  can,  and  bottle 
bears  its  distinctive  label  in  every  conceiva- 
ble shape  and  style  of  ornamentation.  Pro- 
duction ol  these  goods  requires  long  expe- 
rience, rare  designing  powers,  inventive  ge- 
nius, and  intricate  machinery. 

The  officers  of  the  Crump  Label  Company 
are  Samuel  Crump,  President;  E.  S.  Dickie, 
Vice  President;  Joseph  Crump,  Director; 
George  W.  Averell,  Secretary;  N.  S.  Colman, 
Treasurer. 

The  works  are  the  largest  of  their  kind  in 
the  world,  located  at  Montclair,  N.  J.  With 
a  floor  surface  of  82,770  square  feet,  or  an 
•  area  of  213  acres  of  land,  special  and  valua- 
ble machinery,  unequaled  facilities,  and 
skilled  labor  enable  them  to  produce  1,000,- 
000  finished  labels  daily,  upward  of  350,- 
000,000  having  been  manufactured  in  1883. 

They  make  all  styles  of  work,  from  the 
most  simple,  for  can  or  package,  to  the  very 
largest,  most  expensive,  and  artistic  show- 
card  and  chromo  work  by  either  letter-press 
or  lithography;  all  being  handled  with  ease 
and  skill  so  pre-eminently  the  attribute  of 
this  house.  They  have  branches  in  five  dif- 
ferent cities,  each  doing  a  large  business. 

The  Chicago  department,  at  60  and  62 
Wabash  avenue,  was  established  in  1873, 
and  is  under  the  capable  management  of  Mr. 
R.  S.  Dickie,  the  Vice  President  of  the  com- 
pany. Any  information  desired  by  mer- 
chants, manufacturers,  producers,  and  other 
consumers  of  labels  in  regard  to  their  goods 
will  receive  immediate  and  courteous  atten- 
tion by  addressing  the  Chicago  house. 

J .  W.  MIDIXLETON, 

Blank  book  manufacturer,  printer,  and  sta- 
tioner, 55  State  street.  This  house .  was 
established  at  196  Lake  street  in  1863,  and 
for  the  past  twenty-one  years  has  been  justly 
celebrated  for  the  excellent  quality  of  its 
blank  books,  printed  work  of  every  descrip- 
tion, and  stationery  for  office  use.  Bankers, 
manufacturers,  and  the  mercantile  public  in 
all  Western  States  and  Territories  here  pur- 
chase their  supplies  in  small  or  large  quan- 
tities, and  are  happy  because  they  get  their 
moneys'  worth  in^good  goods,  so  says  THE 
INTER  OCEAN,  and  from  experience  it  pro- 
cures its  blank  books  of  Middleton,  and  has 
found  his  goods  entirely  satisfactory  in  price 
and  quality.  Mr.  Middleton  always  carries  a 
full  line  of  whatever  goods  one  would  expect 
to  find  in  a  first-class  Chicago  stationery 
house.  He  does  not  allow  himself  to  be 
undersold. 

A.  ZEESE  &  CO.,  155  AND  157  DEARBORN 
STREET. 

ELECTROTYPING,  MAP,  BELIEF-LINE.  AND    WOOD 

ENGRAVING. 

The  above  establishment  is  the  oldest  and 
most  extensive  of  its  kind  in  Chicago,  estab- 
lished by  A.  Zeese  in  connection  with  8.  P. 


Bounds  in  1856.  The  first  electrotypes 
ever  made  in  Chicago  were  made  by  "this 
firm.  In  1861  the  firm, of  A.  Zeese '&  Co. 
was  formed,  and  their  business  soon  became 
the  leading  one  of  its  kind  in  Chicago  Like 
many  others,  the  establishment  was  totally 
destroyed  in  the  great  fire,  but  was  the  first 
one  in  the  field  again. 

The  business  has  since  grown  into  large 
proportions,  and  every  description  of  electro- 
typing  and  stereotyping,  from  the  smallest 
label  to  the  largest  volume,  is  turned  out 
with  unexcelled  rapidity  and  in  first-class 
style.  All  kinds  of  map  and  relief-line  work 
are  executed  by  this  firm,  and  largely  patron- 
ized by  railroads,  publishers,  and  others. 
Maps  made  by  this  firm  have  frequently  been 
printed  in  THE  INTER  OCEAN. 

A.  Zeese  &  Co.  are  also  publishers  of  the 
Electrotype  Journal  and  tne  /Specimens  of 
Electrotypes,  in  which  are  shown  the  latest 
designs  of  ornaments,  borders,  cuts,  etc. 
Their  stock  in  this  line  is  the  largest  and 
most  select  in  the  country,  and  has  a  very 
extensive  sale,  not  only  on  this  but  also  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  as  well  as  in 
Australia 

WOOD  ENGRAVING. 

LARGEST   AND  OLDEST. 

The  largest  and  oldest  wood-engraving-  es- 
tablishment in  the  West  is  that  of  Baker  & 
Co.,  corner  of  Clark  and  Monroe  streets,  Chi- 
cago. They  were  established  in  1857.  A 
quarter  of  a  century  of  prosperous  business 
attests  the  excellence  of  their  work.  They 
are  a  live  house,  and  keep  up  with  the  times'. 

PHOTO-ENGRAVING  IN  THE  WEST. 

LEVYTYPE   COMPANY. 

It  has  only  been  within  the  past  two  years 
that  the  art  of  engraving  on  type  metal  by 
photo-chemical  means  has  reached  that  de- 
gree of  artistic  and  mechanical  excellence 
which  places  it  on  an  equality  with  the  work 
of  Eastern  establishments.  Tne  levytype  pro- 
cess of  photo-engraving,  as  operated  by  the 
Levytype  Company,  159  LaSalle  street,  Chi- 
cago, gives  the  higrhest  artistic  results  For 
many  purposes  i:  surpasses  the  slower  and 
more  costly  method  of  engraving1  on  wood, 
producing"  more  natural  and  finer  artistic 
Affects,  as  in  the  landscape,  architectural, 
portrait,  and  figure  worK.  By  the  levytype 
process  wood  engravings,  steel  engravings, 
lithographs,  and  other  engraved  work  in  lines 
and  crayon  can  be  reproduced  at  small  cost. 

TYPE  FOUNDERS. 


A    PLACE  WORTH  VISITING. 

BLOMGREN    BROS.    &    CO. 

People  who  come  to  Chicago  with  an  Inten- 
tion of  seeing-  what  is  really  worth  looking 
at,  and  of  gaining  valuable  information, 
should  make  a  point  of  visiting  the  electro- 
type and  stereotype  foundry  of  Messrs. 
Blomgren  Brothers  &  Co.,  at  No.  162  South 
Clark  street.  The  brothers  .are  natives  of 
Sweden,  and  brought  with  them  to  the  new 
world  the  energy  and  frugality  which  are 
essentials  to  existence  in  the  mother  country 
and  which  produce  such  splendid  results 
in  substantial  prosperity  when  exeicfei 
in  the  broader  and  more  product- 


46 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALT1  CENTURY. 


ive  American  field.  Messra  Blomgren 
Brothers  &  Co.  are  not  only  mechanics  of  the 
highest  grade,  but  they  are,  strictly  speak- 
ing, artists  also,  and  the  industry  in  which 
they  hold  an  acknowledged  leading  position 
is  so  essentially  scientific  in  its  multifarious 
details  that  only  strictly  first-class  men  can 
engage  in  it  successfully. 

THE  INTEB  OCEAN  has  for  a  long  time  em- 
ployed this  house  to  do  its  fine  electrotye  and 
stereotype  work,  and  when  it  is  stated 
further,  that  such  work  has  been  entirely 
satisfactory,  tne  readers  of  this  journal 
will  be  disposed  to  think  that 
the  house  is  fully  competent  to 
compete  with  any  establishment  of  the  kind 
westf  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard. 

The  Blomgren  brothers  are  genial  gentle- 
men, thoroughly  interested  in  their  calling, 
and  always  ready  to  show  visitors  through 
their  great  foundry,  where  an  enormous 
capital  has  been  employed  in  the  purchase  of 
the  most  expensive  and  elaborate  machinery, 
and  in  the  employ  of  the  best  experts,  whose 
exclusive  time  and  talents  can  only  be  com- 
manded by  a  large  compensation.  In  the 
business  to  which  these  enterprising  Scandi- 
navians have  devoted  themselves  absolute 
accuracy  of  detail  is  necessary,  and  that  ac- 
curacy characterizes  all  their  operations  is 
abundantly  demonstrated  by  tne  big  rep- 
utation thev  have  gained  throughout  the 
Northwest  The  firm  has  been  nine  years  in 
business,  and  is  now  in  the  weekly  receipt  of 
orders  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States. 
All  work  done  by  this  house  is  thoroughly 
done  and  will  give  perfect  satisfaction. 

CHICAGO  TYPK  FOUNDRY. 

MAEDER,  LUSE  &  CO. 

The  Chicago  Type  Foundry,  which  is  the 
synonym  of  this  well-known  firm,  was  estab- 
lished in  1855.  Although  the  city  since 
then  has  quintupled  in  growth,  the  business 
of  this  house  has  surpassed  even  this  won- 
derful development.  It  not  only  has  kept 
up  to  the  demands  of  the  near  trade,  but  has 
established  successful  branch  houses  at  San 
Francisco  for  the  Pacific  trade,  and  at  Min- 
neapolis for  the  convenience  of  the  North- 
west. 

Aside  from  correct  principles  of  trade, 
which  are  interwoven  with  all  the  trans- 
actions of  this  firm,  much  of  its  success  may 


be  attributed  to  the  fact  that  it  has  brought 
its  productions  to  an  exact  science.  Instead 
of  casting  the  various  types  at  nap-hazard, 
as  Has  been  and  still  is  the  custom  of  many 
other  founders,  every  font  produced  in  this 
house  bears  its  precise  mathematical  propor- 
tion to  its  standard.  Practical  printers  ap- 
preciate this  advantage  to  such  an  extent 
that  other  foundries  are  beginning  to  yield  to 
the  inevitable  by  conforming  to  "the" Ameri- 
can system  ofi  interchangeable  type  bodies," 
which  is  the  standard  adopted  by  this  house. 

The  rapid  growth  of  Chicago  business  has 
forced  many  firms  into  prominence,  but  it  is 
a  matter  of  local  pride  to  instance  Marder, 
Luse  &  Co.,  who  have  not  only  responded 
promptly  to  the  demand  made  upon  their  fa- 
cilities, but  have  added  laurels  to  the  Western 
metropolis  by  establishing  a  standard  which 
is  rapidly  being  followed  by  the  older  cities 
of  the  East. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  of  this  house  that 
it  can  thoroughly  equip  a  printing  establish- 
ment of  any  magnitude,  and  that  no  office 
can  be  entirely  complete  without  drawing  to 
some  extent  upon  its  resourcea 

In  addition  to  a  comprehensive  price  list 
and  catalogue,  which  leaves  nothing  to  be 
guessed  at,  they  also  issue  a  quarterly  speci- 
men showing  their  latest  productiona 

THE    ILLINOIS    TYPE    FOUNDING: CO. 

LOCATED  AT  265  FRANKLIN  STREET, 

was  incorporated  in  1872,  and  commenced 
business  the  same  year  at  61  and  63  West 
Lake  street  They  were  afterward  at  196 
South  Clark  street,  then  at  177  Fifth  avenue, 
and  in  1882  movedto  their  present  commodi- 
ous quarters.  They  manufacture  type,  brass 
rule,  leads,  slugs,  etc.,  and  are  general  deal- 
ers in  printing  presses,  paper-cutters,  and 
all  articles  nsed  by  printers.  Entire  offices 
fitted  out  with  all  that  may  be  required. 
This  foundry  aims  particularly  to  supply 
Western  and  Northwertern  offices  with  goods 
suitable  to  their  requirements.  Some  of  the 
largest  offices  in  this  section  have  been  fur- 
nished by  them,  including  THE  INTER  OCEAN, 
and  the  universal  satisfaction  their  goods 
are  giving  is  sutticient  evidence  that  their 
type  is  of  the  best  character.  Specimen 
books  and  special  estimates  are  cheerful  I  y 
furaished  to  all  who  contemplate  purchasing 
printers'  material. 


CHAPTER  IH. 


THE  CHICAGO  THEATERS. 

HISTORICAL. 

EARLY  DAYS  ON  THE  CHICAGO  STAOm.. 

Among  the  evidences  that  best  determine 
the  substantial  growth  of  a  community  are 
the  increase  and  prosperity  of  its  theaters. 
The  desire  for  amusement  is  so  great  in 
human  nature  that  it  finds  expression  in  the 
coarsest  forms  and  commonest  surroundings, 
ana  the  class  or  quality  of  the  entertainment 
progresses  toward  a  higher  tone  and  more 
elevated  plane  as  the  variety  of  taste  en- 
larges and  improves  with  the  development 
of  population.  A  retrospect  of  fifty  years  is 
too  great  in  the  art  view  of  Chicago  life.  At 
that  time  the  actual  events  of  a  day  were 
sufficiently  dramatic  and  exciting,  and  the 
wild  sounds  of  the  prairie  had  enough  of 
weird  music  in  them  to  quite  shut  out 
thought  of  the  mimicry  of  dangers,  emotions, 
and  suffering.  But  presently  there  grew  into 
favor  a  number  of  athletic  games  that 
evinced  the  craving  for  the  stir  of  the  fan- 
cies, and  the  masquerading  of  the  young  peo- 
ple as  Indians  foreshadowed  a  time  when  the 
play  siiould  be  the  thing. 

It  was  not,  however,  until  1846  that  any- 
thing deserving  the  name  of  theatric  enter- 
prise was  projected  in  Chicago.  Some  few 
entertainments  had  been  given  in  halls  and 
chance  places,  quite  vagrant  in  character, 
though  there  is  a  tradition  that  these  pioneer 
mountebanks  were  immensely 

AMUSING  AMONG  OUB  EARLY  SETTLERS 

There  was  some  local  talent,  besides,  that 
played  the  fiddles,  sang  songs,  took  off  per- 
sons, and  cleared  some  of  the  obstacles  from 
the  way  of  the  coming  drama.  In  the  winter 
of  1 846-7  there  was  an  attempt  at  regular 
theatrical  entertainments,  performances  be- 
ing given  in  the  fecond  story  of  a  building 
on  Dearborn  street,  near  South  Water. 

About  that  time  John  B.  Kice  came  from 
Buffalo  to  Chicago,  perceived  the  excellent 
chance  for  a  theater,  and  enterprisingly  set 
to  work  to  taKe  advantage  of  the  growing 
demand.  He  built  a  small  frame  theater  on 
Randolph  stieet,  east  of  Dearborn,  and  kept 
it  open  during  the  spring,  summer,  and  fall 
seasona  The  winter  season,  now  the  best, 


•was  then  quite  dull,  so  Mr.  Rice  used  to  run 
his  company,  a  very  good  stock  organization, 
up  to  Milwaukee  for  the  winter  period.  The 
plays  were  generally  classic  or  at  least  of 
standard  worth,  a  taste  for  trash  and  ab- 
surdity not  having  prevalence  then.  But  it 
was  the  fashion  .  in  order  to  re- 
lieve any  undue  strain  upon  the  patience 
or  sensibilities  of  an  audience,  to  give 
variety  to  the  performance.  So  it  was  the 
custom,  when  the  curtain  had  descended  on 
an  act  of  a  play,  Shakespearean  perhaps,  to 
send  some  one  before  the  curtain  to  sing1  or 
dance.  A  sailor's  hornpipe  or  a  Highland 
fling  was  often  the  prelude  to 

A   SOUL-STIRRING   TRAGIC   EPISODE, 

and  in  some  cases  one  of  the  actors  of  the 
drama  did  the  entre  act  diversion.  There 
was  generally  a  farcical  afterpiece  to  send 
the  audiences  away  in  good  spirits.  The 
variety  show  of  to-day  was  then  unknown. 
The  stars  who  traveled  in  annual  tour  of  the 
country  used  to  play  at  this  house,  so  that 
the  public  got  the  best  fruits  of  the  American 
stage,  save  in  exceptional  instances.  This 
theater,  the  progenitor,  so  to  speak,  of 
the  magnificent  structure  of  theaters 
now  our  pride,  was  burned  in  1850,  and  J. 
H.  McVicker  and  Sam  Myers,  members  of  the 
company,  took  the  troupe  on  the  road,  play- 
ing on  their  own  account,  while  Rice  de- 
voted himself  to  the  building  of  a  new  thea- 
ter, this  time  of  brick  and  on  Dearborn  street, 
between  Randolph  and  Washington.  This 
was  then  regarded  as  a  very  imposing  edi- 
fice, and  was  opened  in  the  spring  of  1851. 

McVicker  built  a  theater  in  1857,  and 
opened  it  with  "Money."  JFrom  that  time 
began  the  real  theater  life  of  Chicago,  and 
about  that  period  hovered  what  many  now 
believe  to  have  been  the  spirit  of  the  best 
days  of  the  drama.  There  were  memorable 
times,  to  be  sure,  between  that  date  and  the 
fire  of  1871,  which,  practically,  began  a 
new  era  for  Chicago,  and  it  would 
be  a  pleasant  task  to  here  set 
down  the  things  that  are  chiefly  worth  re- 
membering were  space  available.  There  are 
recollections  of  great  actors  gone,  of  others 
in  the  decline  of  power,  still  others  grown 
since  then  into  the  flower  of  greatness,  and 
many  who,  then  obscure,  are  now  prominent 
in  place  and  tayored  by  popularity.  Fifty 
vears  is  but  a  miracle  of  time  in  a  city's  life, 
but  it  is  very  long  for  the  contemplation  of 
panoramic  events,  most  of  them  ripening  be- 
fore the  birth  of  that  which  makes  the  Chi- 
cago of  to-day. 

THE   FTBST  OF   ANY  OPEEA 

heard  in  Chicago  was  in  1860.  Strakosch  then 
brougnt  out  a  concert  company,  at  the  head 


48 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


of  which  were  Pattl  and  Brignoli,  and  they 
sang  parts  of  opera  at  McVicker'a  This  ex- 
periment was  so  very  well  received  that  Gran 
came  out  next  year  with  a  thoroughly 
equipped  opera  company,  numbering  seventv 
people,  and  gave  three  weeks  of  opera  It 
was  a  sensation.  The  musical  sense  of  Chi- 
cago was  vindicated,  and  the  taste  of  the 
people  highly  extolled.  There  is  no  fear  that 
we  do  not  get  credit  for  equally  nice  dis- 
crimination to-day. 

The  theater  tone,  however,  is  much 
purer,  and  it  is  only  that  melancholy 
devotion  to  things  forever  gone  out  of  reach 
that  permits  any  one  to  contrast  the  condi- 
tion of  thirty  years  ago  to  the  disadvantage 
of  the  present  state  of  affairs.  We  are 
much  better  off  in  many  respects 
than  we  were  when  the  stock  com- 
panies of  McVicker's,  the  Museum,  the 
Adelphi,  Hooley's,  or  the  permanent  minstrel 
companies  gave  the  entertainments,  varied 
by  the  occasional  coming  of.  a  star  like  Gush- 
man,  Forrest,  Booth.  Barrett,  Eistori,  Edwin 
Adams,  Owens,  Lucca,  Parepa  JRosa,  or  any 
or  those,  who  came  with  more  eclat  than  do 
corresponding  players  now,  when  we  are 
used  to  a  constant  round  of  greatness  in 
rivalry.  There  were  but  three  or  four  the- 
aters then,  and  events  were  rarer;  enthusi- 
asm was  greater,  because  patronage  was 
more  special  to  the  theater.  In  the  past  ten 
years  tne  theatric  growth  of  Chicago  has  been 
larger  and  of  vaster  importance  to  the  city 
than  during  the  thirty  years  preceding  them, 
and  we  get  more  in  one  year  than  the  people 
of  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago  obtained  in  ten 
years.  We  have  now 

SIXTEEN  PERMANENT  PLACES  OF  AMUSEMENT 

and  five  or  six  hails  where  there  are  occa- 
sional entertainments,  exclusive  of  private 
institutions  that  continually  appeal  "to  the 
public  with  one  or  another  form  of  diver- 
sion. The  recognized  theaters  are  McVick- 
er's. Haverly's,  the  Grand  Opera  House, 
Hooley's,  the  Olympic,  the  Academy  of 
Mu-ic,  the  Criterion,  the  Lyceum,  the  Na- 
tional, the  Chicago  Museum  Theater,  the 
Halsted  Street  Opera  House,  the  New  Metro- 
politan, and  the  West  and  South  Side  'Muse- 
ums. In  Central  Music  Hall,  Farwell  Hall, 
Weber  Hall,  Hershey  Hall,  the  West  End 
Opera  House,  there  is  oftener  something 
doing  than  not.  The  theaters  named  are 
capable  of  accommodating  25.000  people 
nightly,  and  it  is  a  small  computation  to  say 
our  theaters  entertain  100,000  people  every 
week,  on  an  average,  throughout  the  year.  The 
value  of  Chicago  as  an  ainusement  center 
can  be  very  clearly  perceived.  On  this  basis 
— which  is  very  just  when  we  remember  that 
it  covers  no  other  patronage  tnan  that  set 
down  to  the  regular  theaters  and  takes  the 
middle  range  of  prices — the  people  of  Chi- 
cago spend  more  than  $5,200,000  for  their 
amusement  each  year.  Not  one  of  the  Chi- 
cago theaters  but  is  a  largely  profita- 
ble enterprise,  and  yet  there  is  only 
one  manager  who  owns  his  own  thea- 
ter. His  income  per  annum  is,  therefore, 
some  $20,000  greater  than  any  of  the  others, 
though  he  plays  to  no  larger  business, 
theaters  of  his  'class  considered.  The  rent 
of  Chicago  theaters  ranges  from  $5,000  to 
$30,000 "a  year.  The  total  value  of  theater 
property  in  Chicago  is  about  $3,000,000. 
The  contrast  between  this  prosperous  condi- 
tion and  the  wooden  theater  of  1846 
demonstrates  what  Chicago  has  done  in  less 
than  forty  years,  for  the  enterprise  of  which 
this  is  an  illustration  has  been  universal  in 


corresponding  effects,  since  the  theaters  fol- 
low commercial  growth  and  prosperity,  and 
are  never  found  successful  in  laggard  com- 
munities. 

M'VICKEK'S    THEATER, 

AND   ITS   VETERAN  PROPRIETOR. 

To  write  the  history  of  McVicker's  Theater 
would  be  to  review  the  dramatic  record  of 
Chicago,  for  it  is  the  oldest  house  in  the 
West,  and  has  always  been  at  the  head  and 
front  of  theatrical  affairs.  Science  and  art 
have  suggested  no  practical  improvement 
it  has  not  been  the  first  to  adopt,  and  for  a 
play  to  have  been  presented  or  an  actor  to 
have  appeared  before  its  footlights  has  been 
a  certificate  of  merit  to  the  public  and  to  the 
profession.  It  has  always  been  recognized 
and  respected  the  world  over  as  a  perfectly 
successful  theater,  conducted  solely  in  the 
interest  of  the  truest  and  best  type's  of  the 
drama,  and  the  motive  of  its  proprietor  dur- 
ing the  third  of  a  century  he  has  spent  in 
Chicago,  has  ever  been  to  e'levate  the  taste  of 
the  people,  to  encourage  that  which  is  good, 
and  to  condemn  that  which  is  bad  in  the  art 
of  which  he  is  so  noble  a  representative. 

Mr.  McVicker  was  born  in  New  York  in 
1822,  and  in  his  early  youth  developed  a 
fondness  for  the  drama,  which  naturally  led 
him  "behind  the  scenes. "  He  made  his' first 
appearance  in  amateur  entertainments,  but 
entered  the  profession  at  the  bottom  of  the 
ladder  as  a  call  boy  at  the  St.  Charles 
Theater  of  New  Orleans,  then  under  the  man- 
agement of 

THE  FAMOUS   SOL  SMITH. 

Here  he  educated  himself  by  observation 
and  by  the  study  of  the  famous  actors  whom 
it  was  his  duty  to  call  upon  the  stage.  After 
three  years  of  this  sort  of  service,  at  the  age 
of  20,'he  was  given  minor  parts  in  the  plays, 
his  debut  being  a  speech  ten  lines  in  length. 

Having  shed  his  swaddling  clothes,  he 
went  to  Nashville  in  the  company  of  Mr. 
Neafie,  where  he  appeared  in  heavy  tragedy 
with  considerable  success;  but  his  first  ad- 
venture in  the  higher  role  of  the  drama  was 
at  the  National  Theater  of  Cincinnati,  being 
there  given  the  proud  position  of  "first 
walking  gentleman"  of  a  stock  company 
that  was  quite  celebrated  in  its  day. 

A  few  years  after  he  returned  to  New 
Orleans  and  played  comedy  parts  at  the 
American  Theater,  making  his  first  great  hit 
a's  "the  grave-digger"  to  Edwin  Forrest's 
Hamlet  in  1847,  being  then  25  years  of  a.ue. 
He  accompanied  Forrest  on  his  tour,  and 
finally  landed  in  Chicago,  where  he  joined 
John's.  Bice's  company  at  the  old  theater  on 
Dearborn  street,  and  remained  here  four 
years. 

While  here  he  -purchased  the  comedy  pieces 
of  Dan  Marble,  and  in  1852  started  out  as  a 
star,  meeting  with  wonderful  success  and 
becoming  recognized  as  the  leading  comedian 
of  that  day.  In  1855  he  made  a  tour  of 
Europe,  and  played  "Sam  Patch"  for  twelve 
consecutive  weeks  in  London. 

THE  FIRST  "M'VICKER'S  THEATER." 

Returning  to  America  in  1856,  he  assumed 
the  management  of  Wood's  Theater  in  St. 
Louis,  but  remained  there  only  one  season, 
returning  to  Chicago  in  1857  to  stay.  He 
built  a  theater  on  the  site  he  occupies  to- 
day, and  on  the  5ch  of  November,  1857, 
opened  it  with  the  following  bill,  the  original 
copy  of  which  hangs  in  his  office : 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


49 


M'VICKER'S  NEW  CHICAGO  THEATER. 

Madison,  between  State  and  Dearborn,  Chicago. 


Tobin's  Comedy  of  the 


Proprietor  and  Manager J.  H.MeVICKER 

Assistant  Manager F.HARRINGTON 

This  new  and  beautiful  Temple  of  the  Drama, 
erected  at  a  cost  of  Eighty-five  Thousand  Dollars,  and 
in  every  particular  the  Most  Elegant  Theater  in  the 
West,  and  capable  of  seating  comfortably  Two  Thou- 
sand Five  Hundred  Persons,  will  be  open  to  the  public 

THURSDAY  EVENING,  NOY,  5, 1857, 

The  Manager,  believing  he  has  succeeded  in  giving 
to  the  public  of  Chicago  a  Theater  worthy  of  their 
liberal  patronage,  assures  them  that  his  endeavors 
will  be  to  place  before  them  attractions  which  Cannot 
Fail  to  Please.  He  has  also  made  arrangements  with 
all  the 

First  •  Class  Legitimate  Stars 

IN  THE  COUNTRY. 


Miss  Charlotte  Cnshman,  Mr.  Chas.  Matthews. 
Miss  Eliza  Logan,  Mr.  Jas.  E.  Murdoch, 

Miss  J.  M.  Davenport,        Mr.  Kdvrin  Booth, 
Mr.  A.  J.  \eafle,  Mr.  Jas.  Proctor, 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  Drew,  Mr.  Henry  Placlde, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Florence,      And  Mr.  II.  A.  Perry, 
Who  will  appear  in  rapid  succession. 

He  will  also  introduce  a 

STOCK  COMPANY, 

Whose  talents  alone  trill  be  a  guarantee  of  Superior 

Entertainments,  among  whom  may  be 

enumerated 

Mr.  David  Hanchett,          Miss  Alice  Mann, 
Mr.  F.  A.  Monroe,  Mrs.  Lottie  Hough, 

Mr.  F.  S.  Buxton,  Hiss  Kli/a  Mann, 

Mr.  W.  C.  Forrester,         Miss  Fanny  Rich, 
Mr.  A.  J.  Grorer,  Mrs.  K.  J.  Allen, 

Mr.  J.  B.  Uhl,  Mrs.  W.  C.  Forrester, 

Mr.  If.  J.  Allen,  Miss  Fanny  Price, 

Mr.  W.  Gay,  Miss  Julia  Florence, 

Mr.  Havelock,  Mrs.  W.  Gay, 

Mr.  H.  B.  Jones,  Miss  Emma  Logan, 

Mr.  J.  Taylor,  Miss  Xellie  Gray, 

Mr.  W.  S.  Higgins,  Miss  Jennie  Seacore, 

Mr.  F.  Harrington,  Miss  Julia  DeLancey, 

Mr.  J.  H.  McVicker,  Miss  Mary  Wright, 

Hiss  J.  Martin, 
Mrs.  E.  DeLancey, 
Mrs.  Anna  Martin. 


THE    ORCHESTRA 

Will  be  Composed  of  Twelve  Solo  Performers,  selected 

with  great  care, 
Musical  Director Mons.  LOUIS  CHATEL 

Scenic  Artists} |R.S'.|MITH 

Machinist Mr.  WALLACE  HUME 

Decorator Mr.  A.  J.  MARTIN" 

Costumer Mrs.  A.  J.  GROVER 

Assistant  Manager F.HARRINGTON 


(From  th?  pen  of  B.  F.  Taylor,  Esq.),  will  be  spoken 

MISS  ALICE  MANN. 


The  Glorious  National  Anthem, 

THE  STAR  SPANGLED  BANNER 

Will  be  Suag  by  the  Entire  Company. 


The  old  favorite  and  much-admired  actor. 


HONEYMOON! 

And  Buckstone's  Farce  of  the 

ROUGH  DIAMOND 

Will  introduce  the  candidates  for  public  favor. 

The  entertainments  will  commence  with  a  National 
Overture  by  the  Orchestra ;  Leader,  Mons.  L.  Chatel. 

After  which  the  Opening  Address  will  be  spoken  by 
Miss  Alice  Mann. 

The  entire  company  will  then  be  introduced  and  sine 
"The  Star  Spangled  Banner." 

GRAND  OVERTURE ORCHESTRA 


After  which,  Tobin's  comedy  of  the 

HOIVEYMOOIY! 

DTJKEARANZA ,          ...H.  A.  PERRY 

Rolondo Mr.  F.  A.  Monroe 

Balthazar...... W.O.Forrester 

Count  Mon talbin Walter  Gay 

Jaaues F.  S.  Buxton 

Lopez A.  J.Grover 

Compillo W.  Hiagins 

Pedro J.  H.  Jones 

Juliana Miss  Alice  Mana 

Volante Mrs.  Lotty  Hough 

Zonora , Miss  Fanny  Rich 

OVERTURE ORCHESTRA 


Who,  having  returned,  after  an  absence  of  four 
years,  will  make  his  first  appearance  as  the 


13TJK1E 


To  conclude  with  Buckstone's  farce  of  the 

ROUGH     DIAMOND ! 

CousinJoe J.  H.  McVicker 

Margery Lotty  Hough 

HE   SUCCUMBS  TO  A  PANIC. 

The  financial  panic  which  overturned  busi- 
ness in  1857  brought  McVicker  down  with 
the  rest,  and  he  was  compelled  to  sell  his  pet 
and  pride,  but  not  without  a  mental  reserva- 
tion that  he  would  buy  it  back  again,  which 
he  did  a  few  years  after,  having  in  the  mean- 
time returned  to  the  stage.  Having1  recov- 
ered his  house,  he  resumed  the  work  he  had 
begun,  of  giving  Chicago  a  theater  that 
equaled  any  in  the  land,  and  through  his  en- 
terprise the  people  of  Chicago  were  enabled 
to  witness  the  performance  of  every  dram- 
atic celebrity  that  has  ever  appeared  in 
America 

He  often  took  comedy  parts  with  the  fa- 
mous stars  that  visited  Chicago  in  the  days 
before  the  fire,  and  the  old  residents  remem- 
ber when  a  play  was  not  complete  without 
MxsVicker  in  the  cast  To  give  a  list  of  those 
who  have  trod  his  boards  would  be  to  furnish 
a  catalogue  of  all  the  dramatic  planets  that 
have  illuminated  the  last  half  century.  His 
favorite  characters  were  Sam  Patch,  Nick 
Bottom,  the  weaver,  in  a  "Midsummer 
Night's  Dream,"  and  Dogberry  in  "As  You 
Like  It" 

IN  PRIVATE  UFB 

and  in  business  affairs  Mr.  McVicker  has 
been  an  influential  and  esteemed  citizen. 
Although  always  charitable  and  generous,  he 
has  never  hesitated  to  fight  when  he  found  a 
foe,  and  to  whisper  a  word  against  his  pro- 
fession has  always  been  to  tread  on  the  tail 
of  McVicker's  coat.  On  the  platform  and  in 
the  press  he  has  been  an  able  and  eloquent 
defender  of  the  stage  against  its  assailants, 
and  he  writes  and  speaks  as  well  as  he  acts. 
He  has  been  an  energetic  and  successful 
manager,  in  business  affairs  as  well  as  in  the 
line  of  his  proi^ssion,  and  his  ins 
fluence  and  standing  in  commercial  circle- 


50 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


is  equal  to  that  he  has  always  exer- 
cised in  dramatic  affairs.  Several  times  has 
he  been  suggested  as  a  candidate  for  Mayor 
of  Chicago,  and  he  might  have  adorned  that 
and  other  official  positions  but  for  a  horror 
of  politics  and  political  intrigue. 

The  beautiful  dramatic  temple  McVieker 
now  owns  and  occupies,  and  which  is  as 
dear  to  him  as  the  blood  that  throbs  in  his 
veins,  is  the  third  theater  that  has  borne  his 
name.  That  which  was  erected  in  1857  was 
enlarged  and  remodeled  in  1869,  and  was 
superb  in  all  its  appointinenta  This  was  de- 
stroyed two  years  afterward  in  the  great  fire, 
but  the  work  of  re-erection  was  commenced 
as  soon  as  the  bricks  were  cold. 

THE  PKESENT    M'VICKEB'S  THEATEE 

stands  as  a  model  in  all  of  its  appointments, 
one  of  the  most  beautiful,  comfortable,  and 
convenient  houses  in  the  world,  and  is  sun- 
passed  in  no  way.  If  any  one  can  suggest 
an  improvement  that  will  bring  McVicker's 
Theater  nearer  perfection  the  owner  will 
adopt  it  before  sundown ;  but  that  would  be 
impossible  to  do,  for  no  one  is  more  familiar 
with  the  science  of  theater  construction  and 
arrangement  than  he.  and  in  all  the  details 
his  house  stands  as  near  the  ideal  as  human 
ingenuity  can  make  it. 

McVicker  always  has  the  best;  the  finest 
scenery,  the  most  luxurious  equipments,  the 
best  orchestra,  the  most  artistic  'displays  are 
a  matter  of  study  and  pride  with  him,  and  he 
has  the  admirable  faculty  of  inspiring  the 
same  feeling  and  ambition  he  himself  pos- 
sesses in  every  one  of  his  employes.  None  of 
the  faults  that  plague  other  managers,  none 
of  the  annoyances  that  are  endured  by  the 
public  at  other  play-houses  are  tolerated 
here,  and,  although  his  patrons  are  the  most 
fastidious  in  the  country,  there  never  is 
made  a  complaint.  One  may  heap  abuse 
upon  Mr.  McVicker  and  he  will  smile  like  a 
philosopher,  but  to  cast  a  reflection  upon 
his  theater  is  an  insult  he  will  never  forget 
or  forgive. 

FOB  PUBLIC  PROTECTION. 

His  hobby  is  the  protection  of  the  public 
against  panics  and  tire,  and  he  has  made  it 
the  study  of  his  life.  There  is  no  theater  in 
the  world  so  amply  provided  with  safety  ap- 
pliances, or  so  well  arranged  for  exita  The 
house  stands  alone,  with  a  broad  street  in 
front  and  a  broad  alley  upon  each  of  the 
other  three  sides.  It  can  be  entered  and  left 
from  any  of  the  four  points  of  the  compass, 
and  the  largest  crowd  that  ever  occupied  the 
building  could  be  discharged  into  the  street 
in  two  minutes.  There  are  forty  exits,  one 
at  the  end  of  every  aisle  in  every  part  of  the 
house. 

Although  he  had  adopted  every  fire-proof 
appliance  he  wasn't  satisfied  with"  them,  but 
has  erected  on  each  side  of  his  house  iron 
balconies  and  iron  stairways,  which  lead 
from  the  galleries  to  the  streets.  These  are 
reached  by  doors  which  can  be  instantly 
opened  and  afford  the  safest  means  of  escape 
that  can  be  provided. 

HOOLEY'S  THEATER. 

THE  PARLOB  HOME   OP   COMEDY. 

There  is  no  more  familiar  face  in  the  city 
of  Chicago,  and  no  man  better  known,  than 
Mr.  R.  M.  Hooley.  or  "Uncle  Dick,"  as  he  is 
called  by  the  dramatic  profession  of  which 
he  has  been  so  honorable  a  representative, 
and  to  which  he  has  been  so  devoted  a 
patron.  He  has  built  or  remodeled  more 


theaters  than  any  man  living,  and  his  experi- 
ence as  a  successful  manager  is  almost  with- 
out a  parallel  With  his  benignant  eye  and 
patriarchal  beard,  he  looks  what  he  is — the 
patron  saint  of  the  drama,  and  one  to  whom 
every  member  of  the  profession  appeals  in 
distress.  His  relations  with  the  public  have 
always  been  such  as  to  command  the  greatest 
confidence  and  the  highest  esteem,  and 
among  his  associates  he  is  regarded  with  an 
affection  that  is  akin  to  reverence.  In  his 
business  and  social  intercourse  Mr.  Hojley 
has  been  considerate,  honorable,  and  up- 
right, and  it  is  not  from  any  act  of  his  own 
that  he  has  an  enemy  in  the  world. 

Although  born  in  Ireland  (in  1822),  his  par- 
ents removed  to  Manchester,  England,  when 
he  was  a  mere  child,  and  it  was  there  that  he 
received  the  education  and  training  which 
fitted  him  for  a  long  and  honorable  career  of 
usefulness. 

HIS  FATHER   WAS  A  PBOSPEBOUS  MERCHANT, 

and  intended  that  the  son  should  enter  the 
medical  profession,  and  he  was  started  upon 
a  course  of  academic  study  to  that  end. 
But  in  his  18ch  year  he  developed  such  a 
passion  for  music  that  the  idea  of  medicine 
was  abandoned,  and  young  Hooley  diligently 
applied  himself  to  "perfecting  the  artistic 
taste.  Science  lost  what  art  gained,  for  Mr. 
Hooley  possessed  that  peculiar  force  of  char- 
acter and  power  of  mind  that  compel  suc- 
cess in  whatever  direction  they  are  em- 
ployed. Having  acquired  a  knowledge  of 
music,  Mr.  Hooley  naturally  turned  toward 
the  theater  for  its  expression. 

He  began  humbly,  but  he  was  not 
of  the  sort  to  remain  in  a  sub- 
ordinate position,  and  as  he  gained  favor 
he  reached  hopefully  to  higher  thinga 
He  had  the  qualities  of  management,  and  he, 
in  due  course  of  time,  convinced  others  that 
his  business  in  life  was  to  govern  not  be 
governed  in  his  relations  with  the  theater. 

It  is  impossible  in  a  brief  sketch  to  follow 
a  man  of  such  wide  experience  along  the  suc- 
cessful progress  of  his  career,  comprising  as 
it  does,  nearly  forty  years  of  managerial  en- 
terprise. His  personal  resources  were  won- 
derful, and  his  execution  was  never  less  than 
his  aim,  his  acts  being  always  to  improve.  He 
has  controlled  theaters  in  Lon  ion.  New  York, 
Brooklyn.  Williamsburg,  San  Francisco,  Madi- 
son, Philadelphia,  and  Chicago,  besides  hav- 
ing theatric  interests  that  were  without  a 
local  habitation.  Though  he  has  encoun- 
tered many  of  the  vicissitudes  from  which  no 
manager  has  ever  been  free, 

HIS  INDOMITABLE  SPIRIT    AND   TIRELESS  ENERGY 

have  led  him  to  triumph  over  misfortune  and 
secure  victory,  where  others  less  capable 
would  have  accepted  defeat.  He  has  invari- 
ably kept  pace  with  the  spirit  of  the  times, 
changing  base  with  altered  conditions  of 
public  taste  and  education,  holding  himself 
abreast  of  progressive  movements  in  any 
other  direction  of  social  or  artistic  impulse. 
He  is,  therefore,  to-day,  what  he  was  in  his 
prime,  a  representative  manasrer. 

Mr.  Hooley  did  not  permanently  settle  in 
Chicago  until  1869,  twenty -four  years  after 
his  first  visit  here.  He  then  devoted  his 
attention  wholly  to  maintaining  a  theater 
here.  As  his  greatest  delight  is  found 
in  making  others  happy,  he  naturally 
sought  to  amuse  by  an  appeal  to  the  joyous 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


51 


in  human  nature,  preferring  to  excite 
laughter  to  playing  upon  the  graver  emo- 
tiona  He  was  then  possessed  of  a  handsome 
fortune  made  from  his  phenomenally  pros- 
perous management  of  bis  Brooklyn  theater. 
He  purchased  the  Bryan  Hall  property, 
occupying  the  site  of  the  present  Grand 
Opera  House,  and  converted  it  into  an  ex- 
quisite beautiful  theater,  superior  in  ele- 
gance to  any  of  the  smaller  opera  houses  of 
the  country.  It  immediately  became  a  pop- 
ular and  highly  favored  resort. 

MTNSTEELST  WAS   THEN  THE  INSTITUTION. 

Mr.  Hooley  was  one  of  the  pioneers  in  the 
elevation  of  this  style  of  entertainment  from 
the  crude  Ethiopianism  of  its  infancy  to  the 
refined  and  musical  delight  it  afterward 
became.  He  was.  indeed,  for  a  time  associ- 
ated with  the  memorable  George  Christy, 
who  is  set  down  as  the  father  of  negro 
minstrelsy. 

Mr.  Hooley  opened  his  charming  little  opera 
house  and  i'or  a  year  maintained  it  as  a  min- 
strel resort.  In  the  summer  of  1870,  how- 
ever, the  interior  was  remodeled,  made  even 
more  pleasing  than  before,  and  con  verted  into 
a  comedy  house,  Frank  Aiken  and  a  well-se- 
lected company  giving  the  entertainments, 
that  were  the  boast  of  the  community. 

The  great  fire  destroyed  this  place,  and  Mr. 
Hooley  suffered  a  loss  of  something  more 
than  $150,000.  Such  was  his  established 
prestige  as  a  manager  he  had  no  difficulty  in 
keeping  the  people  with  him  in  new  ven- 
tures; and  when  he  became  manager  of  the 
theater  that  now  bears  his  name,  he  found 
the  old  patronage  ready  to  hail  him  as  £ 
rose  from  the  ashes  of  his  first  fame,  and 

HOOLEY'S  PABLOB  HOME  OF  COMEDY 
secured  a  popularity  that  made  it  distin- 
guished throughout  the  country.  There 
nourished  the  most  numerous  and  most  ad- 
mirable body  of  comedians  that  ever  graced 
a  Chicago  theater  as  a  home  organization. 

Men  and  women  who  have  since  become 
celebrated  in  independent  lines  of  work  co- 
operated in  the  production  of  well  chosen 
plays,  gaining  for  the  theater  a  pre-eminence 
in  general  regard  that  continued  unin- 
terrupted until  Mr.  Hooley  sent  the  company 
•on  its  memorable  excursion  to  San  Francisco, 
and  the  combination  system  set  in  with  all 
its  destroying  forces  leveled  against  art  and 
the  best  interests  of  the  theater.  Since  that 
time  Mr.  Hooley  has,  somewhat  mournfully 
we  imagine,  seen  the  reins  of  man- 
agement pass  out  of  the  hands  of 
theater  proprietors,  who  have  become 
servants  in  their  own  establishments 
to  the  speculative  ventures  of  the  combina- 
tion directors.  Yet  for  all  that  Mr.  Hooley 
exercises  a  vigorous  inspectorship  of  all  at- 
tractions that  desire  to  secure  dates  at  his 
theater,  and  he  takes  every  possible  precau- 
tion against  the  admission  of  organizations 
that  he  thinks  are  below  the  standard  of 
-excellence  he  is  desirous  to  maintain  for  his 
theater. 

Though  one  of  the  kindliest  and  most 
generous  of  men,  he  is  admittedly  "cranky" 
when  he  finds  that  he  has  unwittingly 
imposed  upon  his  patrons  something  that 
•does  not  meet  his  expectation.  The  con- 
demnation of  critics  is  mild  compared  with 
his  vehement  protests  on  such  occasions.  He 
has  the  amplest  charity,  on  the  other  hand, 
for  deserving  but  unfortunate  enterprises. 
The  instances  are  many  where  he  has  turned 
his  theater  over  to  such  concerns  for  their 
«ntire  advantage.,  uncomplainingly  sub- 


mitting to  the  loss  of  his  usual  percentage  of 
receipts.  He 

PKEFEBS  DOING  OTHEBS  A  GOOD  TUBN 

to  receiving  a  benefit  himself,  tie  rejoices  in 
making  people  happy,  and  in  his  whole  life 
probably  never  did  another  an  injury  that  he 
did  not  make  good  a  hundred-fold  of  his  own 
volition. 

The  standard  of  Hooley's  Theater  to-day  is 
nearer  that  of  the  old  Parlor  Home  than  at 
any  time  since  the  fire,  which  proves  that 
Mr.  Hooley  does  not  run  behind  in  the  race. 
The  interior  structure  of  the  house  is  ad- 
mirable in  architectural  arrangement  and 
beautiful  in  decorative  effects. 

A  short  time  ago  the  auditorium  was  sub- 
jected to  a  complete  transformation,  em- 
bodying many  novel  designs  in  adornment, 
and  presenting  the  most  unique  idea  in  boxes 
anywhere  to  be  seen.  There  are  two  tiers  of 
boxes  on  each  side  of  the  proscenium,  twelve 
in  number,  made  of  iron  in  the  most  artistic 
pattern  of  light  open-work  effects,  so  ar- 
ranged that  they  nowhere  obstruct  the  view 
of  occupants  of'  seats  in  other  parts  of  the 
house,  commanding  a  full  view  of  the  stage, 
and  being  richly  gilded  m  gold,  they  lend  a 
a  charming  effect  to  the  picturesque  study  in 
gold,  brass,  tinting,  and  paper  designs 
throughout  the  house.  The  arch  and  its 
double-point  projection  and  girder  are  other 
evidences  of  the  architect's  skill  and  taste, 
the  casts  giving  a  mediaeval  tone  to  the  more 
modern  accompaniments  that  make  up  the 
harmony  of  visionary  pleasure. 

MAKING  THE    THEA.TEB   SAFE. 

Though  much  has  been  done  in  the  way  of 
making  the  theater  attractive,  quite  as  much 
more  has  been  done  toward  rendering  it  safe. 
The  stage  is  supplied  with  a  patent  con- 
trivance by  which  that  entire  end  of  the  the- 
ater can  be  at  once  converted  into  a  flue 
with  terrific  draft.  BO  that  a  fire  could,  by  the 
mere  force  of  suction,  be  prevented  from 
spreading  into  the  auditorium.  In  addition 
to  this  there  are  all  the  regulation  fire  pre- 
cautions required  by  the  authorities  or  sug- 
gested by  the  thoughtfulness  of  the  manage- 
ment The  exits  are  numerous  and  easily 
accessible,  so  that  for  beauty,  comfort,  and 
safety  Hooley's  should  be  more  than  ever  re- 
garded as  the  Parlor  Home  of  Comedy. 

GRAND  OPERA   HOUSE. 

THE  HOUSE  OF  LIGHT  OPEBA. 

In  considering  the  experience  of  Mr.  John 
A.  Hamlin  as  a  theatrical  manager,  there  is 
presented  before  the  immediate  view  three 
years  of  extraordinary  and  uninterrupted 
success.  While  it  is  true  that  Mr.  Hamlin 
was  for  a  long  time  previous  to  the  opening 
of  the  Grand  Opera  House  connected  with 
one  or  another  form  of  amusement  enter- 
prise, in  every  undertaking  demonstrating 
his  shrewdness  and  ability  as  a  financier,  it 
is  perhaps  quite  as  true  his  great  pride  grows 
out  of  his  prosperous  relation  to  the  beautiful 
house  he  now  controls.  And  he  has  admirable 
reasons  for  making  the  distinction,  inasmuch 
as  his  present  position  is  evidence  of  his 
capability  for  coping  with  unfortuitous  cir- 
cumstances, and  proves  the  determination 
and  spirit  of  a  man  who  could  surmount 
obstacles  that  would  have  dismayed  many . 


5'2 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


another,   and    could   convert    apparent  dis- 
aster into  substantial  profit. 

Though  he  is  now  past  the  middle  period  of 
his  years  and  can  look  back  upon  a  busy  life 
of  mercantile  care  that  began  in  his  youth, 
h«  is  yet  young  in  management,  and  it  is  the 
hisrhest  gratification  to  him  to  know  that  he 
has  not  only  kept  pace  with  the  older  man- 
agers but  has  succeeded  in  very  nearly 
taking  . 

THE  LEAD  IN  LOCAL  ENTEBPBISE8. 

Mr.  Hamlin  is  peculiarly  constituted,  being 
at  once  a  companionable,  free-hearted,  and 
rather  jovial  gentleman,  and  an  exacting 
scrupulous  man  of  business,  and  although 
th«  two  qualities  are  often  seen  together  in 
his  intercourse  with  men  they  never  conflict 


enter  the  great  school  of  practical  thing*,  and. 
at  the  age  of  21  had  already  acquired,  a  sub- 
stantial footing  and  gained  a  valuable  busi- 
ness acquaintance.  In  a  few  years  he  got  to- 
gether a  comfortable  capital  for  more  ex- 
tensive operations.  He  believed  that  large 
success  could  only  come  of  large  undertak- 
ings, and  he  inaugurated  a  scheme  wholly 
new  then  that  soon  made 

HIS  NAME    KNOWN  THROUGHOUT  THE  COUNTBY. 

This  was  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  a 
medicine  to  which  he  shrewdly  gave  the 
brand  "Wizard  Oil."  because  of  its  remark- 
able properties  as  a  curative.  Instead  of 
settling  down  to  the  conservative  methods  of 
local  trade  to  wait  for  slow-coming  fortune, 
Mr.  Hamlin  built  a  number  of  elegant  wag- 
ons of  an  elaborate  and  unique  design,  drawn 
by  four  and  six  splendid  horses,  furnished 
them  with  cabinet  organs  and  sent  them  into 
all  parts  of  the  country  accompanied  by  a- 


M'tf 


JOHN  A.  HAMLIN,  Manager. 


—one  never  getting  into  the  proper  place  of 
the  other. 

Those  who  have  known  him  longest  re- 
member these  were  always  marked  charac- 
teristics with  him,  and  through  their  exer- 
cise he  gained  friends  wherever  he  desired 
without  ever  losing  the  respect  of  men  with 
whom  he  had  business  transactions.  A  nota- 
ble trait  of  moral  nature  with  Mr.  Hamlin  is 
the  high  estimate  he  places  on  his 
pledgea  He  believes  in  the  old 
virtue  that  a  man's  word 

should  bind  him  no  less  than  his  written  ob- 
ligation, and  when  Mr.  Hamlin  gives  his  as- 
surance of  an  act  or  office,  in  friendship  or  in 
business,  he  will  make  good  the  promise  even 
at  the  sacrifice  of  his  own  personal  interests. 

His  career  has  been  a  varied  one,  for  he  be- 
gan his  encounter  with  the  world  at  an  early 
age,  and  his  sanguine,  nervous  temperament 
led  him  into  adventures  for  financial  gain 
that  early  taught  him  th«  principles  since  so 
successfully  applied  in  all  his  undertakings. 
He  began  in  Cincinnati,  quitting  college  to 


regular  concert  company.  The  effect  of  this 
Napoleonic  move  was  magical.  Crowds 
thronged  about  these  wagons  in  city  or  in 
town  to  enjoy  the  very  excellent  entertain- 
ment given  and  to  purchase  the  wonderful 
fluid,  the  merits  of  which  were  expounded  by 
expert  lecturers,  and  Mr.  Hamlin  made  an 
immense  fortune  in  very  short  order. 

He  had  a  clear  perception  of  the  ad- 
vantages afforded  by  Chicago  for  the  invest- 
ment and  accumulation  of  money,  and 
bought  property  here  very  extensively.  His 
business  had  grown  so  large  that  he  took  his 
brother  into  an  interest  with  him  and  began 
to  realize  what  it  is  to  be  a  rich  man. 

After  the  great  fire  of  1871  Mr.  Ham- 
lin bought  the  famous  site  of  the  Bryan 
Hall,  that  had  been  converted  into  Hoo- 
ley's  Theater,  and  erected  what  was 
then  considered  one  of  the  most  mag- 
nificent buildings  in  the  city,  and  which 
is  now  one  of  the  most  desirable  pieces  of 
property  in  the  commercial  center.  The 
principal  floor  was  fitted  up  as  a  superb  bill- 
iard hall,  and  was  leased  and  run  by  the  well- 
known  Tom  Foley,  and  became  perhaps 

THE  MOST  POPULAR  BESOBT  IN   CHICAGO. 

Mr.  Hamlin,  like  many  another  rich  man, 
felt  the  evil  force  of  the  panic  of  1873,  and 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


53 


was  seriously  crippled  in  his  business  con- 
cerns, and  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  saw  his 
plans  go  amiss.  He  was  a  man  of  too  prolific 
resources  to  be  dismayed  by  his  losses,  and 
immediately  set  about  restoring  his  impaired 
fortune.  He  began  by  converting  the  billiard 
hall  into  a  place  of  resort  known  as  the  Coli- 
seum, which  at  once  became  popular,  and 
proved  a  money-making  enterprise. 

But,  after  running  the  Coliseum  for  a 
time,  Mr.  Hamlin  become  dissatisfied 
with  the  sort  of  patronage  the 
place  attracted,  and,  though  his  in- 
come was  very  great  and  his  expenses  quite 
low,  resolved  to  convert  the  building  into  a 
theater  for  a  more  respectable  public. 
He  instituted  Hamlin's  Theater,  a  cozy  little 
house  where  dramaic  spectacular,  and  vau- 
deville entertaniments  were  given. 

In  the  management  of  this  house  Mr.  Ham- 
lin got  the  idea  that  he  could  establish  a  very 
different  theater,  and  determined  upon  mak- 
ing a  bold  play  for  the  lead  in  Chicago  the- 
ater enterprises.  He  therfore  announced  the 
entire  demolition  of  Hamlin's  Theater,  to 
make  way  for  an  opera  house  that  should  be 
the  realization  of  artistic  loveliness.  Many 
discouragements  were  thrown  in  Mr.  Ham- 
lin's way,  and  there  were  numerous  croakers 
ready  to  predict  the  folly  and  certain  failure 
of  the  project  But  Mr.  Hamlin  feels  a  confi- 
dence in  the  success  of  any  undertaking  to 
which  he  gives  his  personal  endeavor,  and 
he  went  resolutely  ahead  with  hie 
plans,  until  in  good  season  he  opened  to 
the  public  the  most  charming,  beautiful,  and 
exquisitely  arranged  theater  then  existing  in 
the  city.  It  was  as  bright  and  attractive  as 
the  others  were  gloomy  and  old-fashoned, 
eo  that  it  not  only  became  the  talk  of  profes- 
ional  people,  but  secured  the  immediate  in- 
dorsement of  the  public  and  became  the 

FAVORITE  BESOET  OP  FASHIONABLE  PATBONAGB. 

The  house  has  continued  for  three  years 
without  any  interruption  of  its  enviable  suc- 
cess, and  Mr.  Hamlin  has  had  the  extreme 
satisfaction  of  demonstrating  his  entire  ca- 
pacity for  first-class  theatric  managrnent  and 
of  triumphing  over  the  opposition  he  en- 
countered on  entering-  the  field  of  his  present 
labors. 

The  Grand  Opera  House  has  been  made  as 
nearly  perfect  in  respect  to  convenience  and 
public  safety  as  it  is  possible  to  have  such  a 
building.  One  cannot  conceive  a  catastrophe 
possible  to  this  house,  fortified  as  it  is  with  a 
multiplicity  of  exits  and  armed  underneath 
with  a  fire-wall  that  would  absolutely  pre- 
vent the  spread  of  a  fire  from  the  stage  to 
the  auditorium.  Every  precaution  against 
danger  is  observed,  and  "in  some  instances 
there  have  been  wholly  unnecessary  steps 
taken  to  insure  the  welfare  of  an  audience 

Though  the  theater  is  one  of  the  prettiest 
and  most  enjoyable  in  the  country,  Mr.  Ham- 
lin intends  to  further  beautify  and  embellish 
it  during  the  present  year,  so  that  by  the 
opening  of  the  next  winter  season  it  will  be 
as  new  and  beautiful  to  the  eye  as  tte  night 
three  years  ago  when  it  was  so  auspiciously 
inaugurated  by  the  Emma  Abbott  Opera 
Company.  As  its  name  implies,  music  is  the 
specialty  of  the  house,  all  the  important  light 
opera  companies  of  the  country  having 
bookings  here,  for  one  reason,  because  Man- 
ager Hamlin  cultivates  that  sort  of  attrac- 
tion, and  for  another  reason,  that  the  people 
prefer  to  sing  in  that  house.  But  the  at- 
tractions are  by  no  means  confined  to  opera, 
it  being  the  aim  to  have  the  best  standard 


attractions,  be  their  line  what  it  may,  and 
the  house  is  known  for  its  choice. 

HAVERLV'S  THEATER. 

IMPBOVEMENTS   FOB    THB  NEW   TEAR. 

Not  only  because  that  house  is  of  most 
recent  date,  but  because  its  story  al- 
ready reaches  out  toward  the  future 
in  a  fashion  at  once  distinct  and  in- 
teresting, an  account  of  Haverly's  Theater 
will  serve  most  fittingly  to  close  this  articia 
It  will  not  be  necessary  in  this  relation  to 
more  than  refer  to  the  old  Adelpki  and  to 
Mr.  Haverly's  reign  there  as  lessee.  He  gave 
his  own  name  to  the  old  house  as  long  as  the 
old  house  was  there  to  be  called  by  any 
name.  vVhen  the  shadows  of  destruction 
had  foregathered  about  it,  and  the  stately 
outlines  of  the  now  First  National  Bank 
Building  began  to  erect  themselves  into  a 
solid  intention,  Mr.  Haverly  carried  his  name 
across  Monroe  street  and  bestowed  it  upon 
the  structure  which  bears  it  now. 

The  theater  was  a  surprise  to  every  one, 
even  in  Chicago,  where  celerity  is  a 
prevailing  habit  and  Time  has  in  most 
things  been  knocked  out  of  time. 
The  first  stone  was  turned  upon 
the  ground  on  the  12th  of  June,  1881. 
Ninety  days  later — on  the  12th  of  September 
— the  new  theater,  completed  at  every  point, 
was  thrown  open  to  the  public.  If  the  world 
can  offer  another  case  in  which  a  permanent 
edifice  of  equal  size,  beauty,  ana  solidity  was 
so  well  and  so  rapidly  put  together,  this 
writer  has  yet  to  learn  of  it. 

THE  HOUSE  AND  THE  MEN. 

The  house  was  built  by  General  John  B. 
Carson,  of  Quincy,  111.,  the  General  Manager 
of  the  Hannibal  and  St.  Joseph  Railwav.  Im- 
mediate supervision  of  the  work  in  all  its 
details  was  confided  to  Mr.  James  D.  Carson, 
his  son.  Mr.  Oscar  Cobb  was  the  supervising 
architect. 

The  first  artists  to  appear  upon  the  stage  of 
the  new  theater  were  the  comedians  Rob- 
son  and  Crane,  who  played  sir  Andrew  and 
Sir  Toby  in  "The  Twelfth  Night."  The  vast 
auditorium  was  crowded  to  the  very  doors, 
and  the  success  of  the  enterprise  was  assured 
from  the  moment  of  its  submission  to  the 
public.  There  was  but  one  opinion  expressed, 
and  that  one  was  favorable  if  not  enthusi- 
astic. 

The  business  of  the  theater  has  never  been 
less  than  prosperous  in  even  the  dullest 
months  of  the  year;  and  it  is  to  be  questioned 
whether  an  equal  aggregate  of  receipts  in 
the  average  of  all  months  during  the  last  two 
years  could  be  shown  by  any  theater  in  the 
world,  saving  the  principal  of  those  which 
are  devoted  exclusively  to  grand  opera  at 
high  prices. 

The  theater  is  admittedly  the  most  popular 
in  the  city,  and  its  conveniences  include 
everything  that  up  to  the  time  of  its  erection 
was  known  to  modern  stage  mechanism.  It 
is  the  only  theater  in  the  city  which  has  the 
Edison  incandescent  electric  light  in  every 
department.  This  light  is  used  on  the  entire 
stage,  in  thejdressing-rooms,  auditorium,  pri- 
vate boxes,  foyer,  vestibule,  aud  offices, 
while  the  f  acad  -.  of  the  house  is  brilliantly 
illuminated  by  Edison  arc  lights.  The 
theater  is  thus  rendered  perfectly  free  from 
the  noxious  odors  of  coal  gas,  and  by  an  im- 
proved system  of  ventilation  the  atuios- 


HAVEKLY'S  TUJfiAlJiJii. 


CHICAGO'S  FIKST  HALF  CENTURY. 


55 


phere  of  the  auditorium  is  kept  perfectly 
pure,  and  therefore  healthful. 

In  addition  to  the  largest  and  most  com- 
fortable seating  capacity,  Haverly's  Theater 
has  twenty-one  private  boxe.s,  all  luxuriously 
furnished  and  commanding:  a  full  view  of 
the  stage.  Retiring-rooms  and  cloak-rooms 
for  both  ladies  and  gentlemen  are  con- 
nected with  the  foyer,  and  during  the  winter 
the  house  is  thoroughly  warmed  by  steam 
radiator.  The  main  floor  is  on  a  level  with 
Monroe  street,  and  unlike  any  other  South 
Side  theater,  occupants  of  the  parquette  and 
parquette  circle  and  the  private  boxes  have 
not  a  single  step  to  climb. 

THE  POLICY  OF  THE  THEATEE 

having  been  a  very  liberal  one,  the  best  at- 
tractions before  the  public  have  sought  it; 
and  thus  such  great  dramatic  lights 
as  Edwin  Booth,  Lester  Wallack,  John 
McCullough,  T.  W.  Keene,  and  Mme. 
Janauschek,  such  distinguished  organizations 
as  the  Union  Square  Company  and  the 
BrO)ksand  Dickson  Companies,  and  such 
operatic  attractions  as  Mme.  Adelina  Patti, 
the  McCaull,  luff,  and  Grau  comic  opera 
companies,  have  all  chosen  to  appear  within 
its  walls.  The  sensation  caused  by  Mrs. 
Langtry,  in  social  as  well  as  theatrical  cir- 
cles, demanded  a  theater  equal  to  the  occa- 
sion, and  Haverly's  Theater  was  chosen  for 
her  Chicago  engagement.  So  in  the  case  of 
Mr.  Henry  Irving  and  the  Metropolitan  Grand 
Opera  Company,  both  under  the  management 
of  Mr.  Abbey,  and  both  ( to  ap  pear  at  this 
house  during  the  coming  month. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  indicate  how 
greatly  superior  in  every  respect  this  the  ater 
is  to  any  similar  edifice  in  Chicago,  and  how 
carefully  and  energetically  the  management 
of  the  house  strives  to  live  up  to  and  by  con- 
tinued effort  continuously  to  deserve  the 
popularity  so  quickly  and  so  completely  won. 
The  public  having  shown  so  responsive  an 
appreciation  of  all  that  has  been  done  for 
their  amusement  and  comfort  in  the  con- 
struction and  conduct  of  the  house,  the  pres- 
ent lessee,  in  the  feeling  that  the  effort  will 
be  understood  and  approved,  has  determined 
to  widen  its  province  so  as  to  include  all  art3 
and  all  appliances  that  conduce  to  the  best 
and  most  aesthetic  tastes  and  pieasurea  This 
intention  involves  a  very  distinct,  even  a 
bold  departure  from  precedent;  but  it  has 
been  formed  after  sufficient  consideration 
and  in  the  full  belief  that  a  temple  of  dra- 
matic art  is  of  all  places  the  most  fit  and  de- 
serving to  be  adorned  with  all  that  is  beau- 
tiful in  other  arts;  since  to  dramatic  art  it- 
self  all  others  are  contributiye,  and  by  dra- 
matic art  all  others  are  heightened  and  in 
turn  adorned.  His  theater  will  therefore  be 
in  as  strong  a  way  as  possible  a  grouping 
point  for  all  the  rest. 

NEW  IMPROVEMENTS  PLANNED. 

To  this  end,  with  the  close  of  tiie  present 
season,  the  whole  interior  of  the  house  will 
be  changed  to  conform  to  new  and  practical 
ideas  in  theatrical  architecture,  which  have 
been  suggested  and  applied  only  within  the 
last  year.  These  improvements  will  extend 
not  only  to  the  stage,  but  to  the  auditorium, 
and  while  the  interest  of  the  public  will  be 
enlisted  by  charming  innovations  in  the  pres- 
entation of  dramatic  works,  in  so  far  as  the 
stage  dressing  is  concerned,  it  will  also  be 
directed  to  the  contemplation  of  the  most 
luxurious  and  beautiful  auditorium  in 
America  The  metamorphosis  will  be  very 
thorough  in  every  department  The  walls 
will  be  treated  by  a  new  process  of  construc- 


tion and  decoration.  The  private  boxes  will 
'be  reconstructed  on  a  more  pleasing  and 
artistic  plan  and  furnished  still  more  lux- 
uriously. The  seats  will  be  changed  for  seats 
of  a  pattern  much  superior.  The  foyer 
will  be  enlarged  and  two  spacious 


RICE'S  DEARBORN  STREET  THEATER, 

reception  rooms  will  be  added,  each  of 
which  will  be  elaborately  furnished 
nnd  adorued  with  bric-a-brac,  paintings, 
statuary,  and  rare  boots  and  prints.  These 
innovations  should,  and  in  every  likelihood 
will,  mark  a  point  of  new  departure  iu  the 
history  of  Chicago  theaters.  That  they  will 
be  greeted  with  pleasure  and  rewarded  with 
substantial  approval  by  citizens  of  all  sorts 
and  conditions  may  at  even  this  distance  of 
time  be  taken  as  a  conclusion  well  foregone. 


CHICAGO'S   FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


The  work  of  beautifying  the  place  will  be 
made  equally  apparent  in  every  tier,  so  that 
the  patron  of  the  top  floor,  as  well  as  the 
patron  of  the  higher-priced  places,  will  find 
much  that  is  entertaining,  amusing',  or  in- 
structive to  contemplate. 

The  plans  for  this  great  change  are  nearly 
perfected.  The  work  wiil  commence  about 
the  1st  of  Jane,  and  in  the  early  autumn  the 
doors  of  the  theater  will  open  to  reveal  a 
oplendor  as  well  as  a  comfort  that  will  amaze 
and  delight  those  who  are  familiar  with  the 
piesent  interior.  Tne  class  of  attractions  to 
be  presented  during  the  next  season  will 
excel  as  a  line  anything  known  to  even  this 
most  successful  and  prosperous  of  theaters. 

The  present  lessee  of  the  building  and  pro- 
prietor of  the  theater,  Mr.  C.  H.  McConnell, 
President  of  the  National  Printing  Company, 
is  the  gentleman  to  whom  Chicago  will  be 
indebted  for  this  elegant  temple  of  art.  No 
person  who  has  visited  the  elegant  offices  of 
the  National  Printing  Company  will  need  any 
assurance  of  the  refined  taste  which  will 
characterize  the  theater  in  its  new  habili- 
ment The  management  of  the  house  de- 
volves upon  Mr.  William  J  Davis.  Mr.  John 
8.  McConnell  is  the  Treasurer,  and  Mr.  George 
8.  Bowron  musical  director. 

THE   ACADEMY   OF  MUSIC. 

DAN   SHELBY'S   SUCCESS. 

Wnen  Mr.  Daniel  Shelby  came  here  from 
Buffalo  and  took  the  lease  of  the  Academy 
of  Music,  there  were  few  who  thought  he 
could  make  a  great  success  of  the  under- 
taking, because  of  his  announced  determina- 
tion to  lift  that  theater  into  competition  with 
those  of  the  South  Side.  There  were  free 
predictions  that  he  would  very  soon  be  glad 
to  return  to  the  smaller  city  and  content 
himself  with  a  more  restricted  field  of  man- 
agement 

Mr.  Shelby  is,  however,  one  of  those 
serenely  decisive  men  who  are  rarely 
turned  aside  from  their  course  by  the  ready 
evil  auguries  of  others,  and  he  set  quietly 
about  carrying  his  plans  to  a  successful  issue, 


the  more  resolved  on  triumphing  for  the 
opposition  he  encountered.  He  received  the 
Academy  as  a  variety  theater  with  a  fixed 
patronage  of  people  whose  tastes  were  on  a 
level  with  the  character  of  the  entertain- 
ments. He  was  told  that  he  must  keep  this 
clientelage  or  lose  the  money  he  advent- 
ured. He  answered:  "I  intend  to  have  a 
theater  that  the  best  people  in  town  can 
feel  safe  in  visiting."  It  required  less 
time  than  two  years  to  make  this  prophecy 
good. 

Mr.  Shelby  proved  to  be  a  shrewd,  en- 
terprising, and  conscientious  manager.  He 
first  gained  the  respect  and  then  the  confi- 
dence of  the  community,  and  being  already 
in  possession  of  the  good  will  and  regard  of 
professional  people,  managers,  and  actors 
throughout  the  country,  he  had  scarcely  any 
difficulty  in  prosperously  establishing  the 
house  on  the  basis  of  a  new  policy.  He  be- 
gan bidding  for  the  leading  attractions 
among  the  combinations,  and  soon  had  a 
large  number  of  first-class  attractions  booked 
for  his  house,  and  when  it  was  found  how 
thoroughly  in  earnest  he  was  in  an  endeavor 
to  elevate  the  tone  of  his  theater,  the  public 
came  admiringly  to  his  support  Mr.  Shelby 
is  to-day  one  of  the  most  positively  repre- 
sentative managers  of  Chicago,  as  he  has 
fallen  fully  into  the  active,  pushing  spirit 
of  the  community,  is  liberal-hearted 
and  open-handed  in  his  business 
as  he  is  in  private,  and  never  hesitates  to 
make  expenditures  where  he  believes  he  is 
likely  to  please  his  patrons.  He  has  beauti- 
fied the  theater  until  it  is  a  fit  shrine  for  the 
noblest  forms  of  dramatic  art  and  delightful 
to  the  most  refined  taste.  He  has  given  the 
surroundings  an  inviting  atmosphere,  and 
can  well  claim  to  have  as  popular  a  theater 
and  as  genteel  a  class  of  patrons  as  any 
theater  in  the  city.  Mr.  Shelby  really  is  en- 
titled to  the  gratitude  of  the  p'eople  residing 
on  the  West  bide  for  having  been  tiie  leader 
in  establishing  in  that  part  of  the  city  a  first- 
class  cheater,  and  for  having  inspired  others 
to  emulate  his  example.  Though  his  success 
has  brought  about  some  rivalry,  prompting 
others  to  follow  where  he  led,  there  is  no  fear 
that  such  a  wide-awake,  progressive  and 
strategic  manager  will  be  seriously  affected 
by  any  sort  of  honest  competition. 


CHAPTER   IV. 


HOTELS  TO  J3E  PROUD  OF. 

OUR    HOTELS. 

THE   OLD    TIME    TAVERNS. 

In  no  one  feature  is  progressive  Chicago 
better  or  more  forcibly  illustrated  than  In 
her  hotels.  Over  on  Milwaukee  avenue,  near 
Fulton  street,  stands  a  two-story  frame 
building,  not  prepossessing  in  appearance 
•either  from  the  outside  or  within,  and  the 
saloon  which  takes  up  most  of  the  ground 
floor  is  of  such  character  to  warn  one  fond  of 
a  social  drink  that  he  should  go  farther  and 
fare  better.  There  is  nothing  inviting  about 
the  place,  and  yet  fifty  years  ago  the  people 
of  Chicago  were  very  proud  of  the  building, 
and  there  was  much  talk  about  the  new 
Green  Tree  Tavern  about  to  be  opened.  S.  B. 
Cobb,  one  of  Chicago's  millionaires  to-day, 
came  tramping  into  the  city  about  that 
time,  and,  not  finding  an  opening  in  his  own 
line  of  business,  engaged  himself  to  the  boss 
carpenter  and  helped  nail  the  shingles  on  the 
roof  of  the  new  tavern,  the  first  building  put 
up  in  Chicago  designed  for  a  public  house. 

POLITICS   AT   THE   GBEEN  TEEE. 

The  Hon.  John  Wentworth  was  in  the  habit 
of  strolling  over  the  old  flat  bridge  to 
spend  an  evening  in  the  bar-room  of  the 
Green  Tree  with  the  genial  proprietor,  Ches- 
ter Ingersoli,  and  some  of  the  "boys,"  who 
came  in  to  talk  politics,  tell  adventures,  or 
read  the  papers  from  the  East,  which  were 
perhaps  a  week  or  two  old,  but  filled  with 
news  for  the  people  of  the  frontier  settle- 
ment John  Gray,  of  Grayland,  a  beautiful 
Ohicago  suburb,  was  at  one  time  the  jolly 
landlord  at  the  Green  Tree  House,  and  when 
not  kept  busy  with  his  guests  sat  in  the  door 
and  shot  wolves  that  came  to  carry  away  his 
young  pigs  at  the  barn  across  the  street. 

The  house  when  built  stood  at  the  corner 
of  Lake  and  Canal  streets,  on  the  site  now 
occupied  by  the  building  of  the  American 
Iron  Works.  Now  it  is  in  decay,  but  fifty 
years  ago  it  was  the  new  palace  hotel  of  Chi- 
cago, and  far  outshone  the  taverns  which 
had  taken  care  of  the  visitors  to  Chicago. 

The  old  Kinzie  House,  even  when  it  was  the 
only  white  man's  dwelling  here,  had  its 


latch-string-  always  hanging  out  for  strangers, 
and  others  who  followed  were  just  as  hospit- 
able in  ottering'  entertainment  When  the 
settlement  became  larger  the  little  log  hut  on 
Wolf  Point,  at  the  intersection  of  the  two 
branches  of  the  river,  was  opened  as  a 
tavern. 

FIBST  LICENSED  HOTEL. 

The  County  Commissioners  of  Peoria  County 
granted  Archibald  Caldwell  a  license  to  keep 
a  tavern  there  Dec.  8,  1829,  and  he  was 
assessed  to  pay  a  tax  of  $8,  and  give  a  bond 
with  security  for  $100.  By  this  license  he 
was  allowea  to  charge  the  following  rates: 

Cents. 

Each  half-pint  of  wine,  rum,  or  brandy 25^4 

Each  pint  of  wine,  rum,  or  brandy 37% 

Each  half- pint  cin IS1^ 

Each  pint  gin 31% 

Each  gill  of  whisky 6*3 

Each  half-pint  whisky 12  ^ 

Each  pint  whisky 18% 

Each  breakfast,  dinner,  or  supper 25 

Each  night's  lodging 12*3 

Keeping  horse  over  night  on  grain  and  hay. . .  25 

The  same  as  above,  24  hours 37X4 

Horse  feed 12 

In  front  of  the  door  stood  a  tall  pole,  from 
which  swung  a  sign  and  on  this  was  painted 
a  rude  picture  of  a  wolf,  but  the  house  re- 
ceived its  name  from  the  point  of  land  on 
which  it  stood.  It  was  at  this  house  that 
General  Scott  made  his  headquarters  when 
hs  came  to  Chicago  in  1832  to  put  down  the 
Blackhawk  disturbance.  Elijah  Wentworth 
had  an  inn  on  the  West  Side  in  1830,  which 
was  probably  the  Wolf  Point  House. 

HUNO  UP  FOB  THE  NIGHT. 

The  Miller  House,  wtiith  stood  on  the  other 
side  of  the  North  Branch,  and  was  partly  of 
logs  and  partly  frame,  was  also  opened  as  a 
tavern.  Then  came  Mark  Beaubien,  in  1831, 
who  opened  a  tavern  in  a  small  log  house  on 
the  South  Side,whichne  called  the  Sauganash, 
in  honor  ot  Billy  Caldwell,  chief  of  the  Pot- 
tawatomies.  It  was  in  this  little  house  where 
the  jolly  fiddler  said  he  first  filled  his  beds, 
then  the  floors,  and  afterward  hung  up  his 
guests  on  nails  and  hooks  on  the  walls. 

These  were  the  hotels  before  1833,  when 
the  Green  Tree  House  was  built.  This  sup- 
plied the  want  for  a  while,  and  then  late  in 
1833  was  commenced,  on  the  northwest  cor- 
ner of  Lake  and  Dearborn  streets,  the  first 
Trempnt  House.  It  was  a  small  wooden 
building,  and  could  easily  be  placed  in  the 
reception  room  of  the  present  Tremont 
House,  and  it  would  take  two  or  three  like  it 
to  fill  the  dining  room.  In  1836  this  house 
was  enlarged  so  as  to  accommodate  fifty  peo- 
ple, and  in  1839  it  was  burned.  John  Went- 


58 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


worth    made    this    his   home    until    it   was 
burned. 

The  old  Sauganash  kept  by  Mark  Beaubien 
afterward  took   on   another   story  and  then 
changed  its  name  to  the  City  Hotel. 
MBS.  MTJBPHY'S  "BOYS." 

In  1836  John  Murphy  and  his  wife  came  to 
Chicago  and  opened  the  United  States  Sauga- 
nash. Mrs.  Murphy  is  still  living  on  the 
West  Side,  and  is  one  of  the  sprightliest  old 
ladies  in  Chicago.  She  speaks  of  the  Hon. 
John  Wentworth,  S.  B.  Cobb,  and  a  dozen 
other  old  citizens  as  "her  boys."  They 
boarded  with  her  in  these  early  days,  and 
were  always  coming  in  late  at  night,  getting 
into  her  pantry,  which  was  next  morning 
usually  found  to  be  empty,  especially  of 
pumpkin  t)ies  and  cakes. 

In  1837  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Murphy  went  to  the 
West  Side  and  opened  the  United  States  Ho- 
tel, which  they  kept  for  several  years. 

Other  early  hotels  were  the  Eagle  House,  at 


had  been  living  in  hotels  where  the  whole 
house  was  not  so  large  as  this  room. 

Jacob  Eussell  came  from  Middletown, 
Conn.,  to  take  charge  of  the  house,  and  it 
was  opened  with  great  promise.  But  it  was 
not  in  the  line  of  the  city's  growth,  and  in  a 
few  years  was  a  complete  failure. 

The  City  Hotel  was  built  on  the  northwest 
corner  of  Clark  and  Randolph  streets  in  1836 
and  1837,  and  in  1844  became  the  Sherman 
House. 

The  Western  Hotel,  built  on  West  Eandolph 
street  in  1834,  it  is  claimed,  was  the  first  en- 
tire frame  building  put  up  in  Chicago.  It 
was  built  and  kept  by  W.  H.  Stowe,  and  a 
part  of  the  old  house  still  stands  at  the  corner 
of  Randolph  and  Canal  streets. 

THEN  AND  NOW. 

These  were  the  hotels  in  Chicago  before 
1840. 

But  since  then  there  has  been  a  change. 
The  great  need  of  the  city  in  late  years  has 


THE    WESTERN    HOTEL. 


the  corner  of  Canal  and  Madison  streets, 
built  in  183  6;  the  Mansion  House,  on  Lake 
street,  opposite  where  the  Tremont  now 
stands,  built  in  1835,  and  kept  by  Abram  A. 
Markle;  the  Steamboat  House,  on  North 
Water  street,  near  Kinzie,  kept  in  1835  by 
John  Davis;  the  Lake  House,  on  the  North 
Side,  near  the  river,  on  Michigan  street, 
finished  in  1836. 

A  MARVELOUS  HOTEL. 

The  opening  of  this  house  was  another 
event  in  the  early  history  of  Chicago.  The 
village  had  by  this  time  outgrown  the  Green 
Tree  House,  and  John  H.  Kinzie,  Gurdon  S. 
Hubbard,  Captain  David  Huuter,  and  Major 
James  B.  Campbell  built  the  Lake  House,  at 
an  expense  of  over  $90,000.  It  was  opened 
in  1837,  and  was  the  marvel  of  the  day. 

It  was  built  of  brick,  and  when  finished 
there  was  nothing  between  it  and  the  lake. 
The  main  entrance  was  on  Michigan  street, 
and  nearly  the  whole  of  the  first  floor  on  the 
left  was  given  to  the  reception  parlor.  The 
dining-room  and  bar-room,  sixty  feet  long, 
was  a  wonderful  room  to  the  people,  who 


been  hotel  accommodations  for  the  great 
crowds  of  people  who  came  here  either  for 
business  or  pleasure.  The  great  fire  swept 
the  down  town  district  clean,  and  when  the 
hotels  were  to  be  rebuilt  there  was  nothing 
of  the  old  to  be  worked  into  the  new. 

Thinking  of  the  future,  and  calculating 
for  the  rapid  growth  of  the  city,  the  hotels 
were  built  on  a  grand  scale  that  surprised 
the  world,  and  called  out  criticism  and  pre- 
dictions cf  utter  failure.  Millions  of  money 
was  p"it  into  mammoth  piles  of  iron  and 
stone,  and  in  a  year  or  two  after  the  fire  the 
grandest  and  most  magnificent  hotels  in  the 
world  were  thrown  open  to  the  public. 

All  the  hotels  ol  Chicago  In  1840  piled  to- 
gether could  be  stowed  away  like  so  many 
trunks  in  any  one  of  five  large  hotels  now 
open,  and  the  whole  population  of  the  city  at 
that  time  could  now  be  easily  taken  care  of 
in  these  houses.  The  Wolf  Point  Tavern,  the 
Miller  House,  and  the  Sauganash  Hotel  of 
1832  could  be  set  up  in  the  news  exchange 
of  the  Grand  Pacific  like  so  many  relics,  i  nd 
the  Green  Tree  and  Western  Hotels  might 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


each  occupy  an  end  of  the  errand  dining- 
room  and  leave  as  much  space  of  marble 
flooring  between  as  there  then  existed  of 
prairie'grass.  The  Palmer  House  could  have 
housed  and  fed  General  Scott's  army,  that 
came  to  fight  Blackhawk  and  his  Indians  in 
1832,  and  here  also  gathered  in  all  the  set- 
tlers of  Northern  Illinois,  and  protected  them 
from  the  scalping-knife. 

HOTEL  ACCOMMODATIONS  FOB  A   CITY. 

In  this  house,  which  cost  more  than  $2,- 
000,000.  and  contains  more  than  17,000,000 
bricks,  and  covering  an  area  of  72,500 
square  feet,  one  ol'  the  early  settlers  would 
get  lost  as  easily  as  in  a  city. 

The  hotels  of  Chicago  to-day  number  160, 
with  an  aggregate  accommodation  for  25,000 
people.  This  is  in  addition  to  the  large  num- 
ber of  large  boarding-houses  scattered 
throughout  the  residence  portions  of  the 
city.  And  these  hotels  are  always  full  of 
guests,  having  often  to  resort  to  cots  to  give 
accommodation.  The  city  is  acknowledged 
everywhere  to  be  better  able  to  take  care  of 
great  crowds  of  people  than  any  other  on  the 
continent — with  the  exception  of  New  York. 
At  the  time  of  the  Republican  National  Con- 
vention, and  again  at  the  Knights  Templar 
Triennial  Conclave  in  1880,  there  were  50,- 
000  strangers  in  the  city,  and  all  were  taken 
care  of  without  trouble.  During  the  Con- 
clave the  Palmer  House  and  Grand  Pacific 
each  had  over  1,000  guests,  and  the  Palmer 
one  day  dined  2,500  people.  The  Sherman, 
Tremout,  and  Leland  were  only  a  little  way 
behind  these. 

There  has  not  only  been  a  change  in  the 
size  but  in  the  appointment  of  the  hotels  in 
Chicago.  The  men  who  allowed  Mark  Beau- 
bien  to  hang  them  up  for  the  night  on  hooks 
and  nails,  and  those  who  slept  on  the  floor  of 
the  bar-room  and  dining-room  at  the  Green 
Tree,  or  went  to  the  haymow  if  all  other 
places  were  full,  now  want  the  very  best  of 
everything,  and  in  Chicago  they  get  it. 

They  are  not  satisfied  with  a  room,  but 
must  have  a  suite,  with  everything  as  com- 
plete as  if  they  had  spent  a  fortune  in  build- 
ing and  furnishing  a  home  of  their  own. 

THE    PALMER    HOUSE. 

ONLY  FIRE-PROOF  HOTEL  IN  THE   COUNTRY. 

Chicago  is  famous  for  its  public-spirited 
citizens,  but  there  is  no  man  who  has  done 
more  to  build  up  the  city,  and  give  it  a 
reputation  for  push  and  enterprise,  than 
Potter  Palmer.  Monuments  of  his  energy 
and  public-spiritedness  can  be  seen  in  every 
direction,  and  any  one  of  them  would  satisfy 
most  ambitious  men,  but  the  Palmer  House 
Is  the  greatest  of  them  all.  Wherever  Chi- 
cago is  known — and  where  is  it  not — wher- 
ever newspapers  and  travelers  go  to  tell  of 
the  grandeur  of  the  city  ttiat  has  been  raised 
from  a  swamp  once,  and  then  from  the  ashes, 
to  be  the  finest  in  the  world,  the  Palmer 
House  is  told  of  as  one  of  its  greatest  orna- 
ments and  most  attractive  institutions. 

It  was  only  two  months  ago  that  the  tenth 
anniversary  of  the  completion  and  opening 
of  this  monstrous  inn  was  fittingly  com- 
memorated. Then  gathered,  as  the  guests  of 
the  Palmer  House,  the  principal  citizens  ot 
Chicago,  the  Mayor,  the  Collector  of  Cus- 


toms, the  Postmaster,  the  judges,  and  other 
prominent  officials,  State,  Federal,  and 
municipal,  and  several  hundred  private  citi- 
zens, the  leaders  of  commerce  and  trade,  the 
bright  lights  of  the  bar,  the  pulpit,  and  other 
professions,  to  celebrate  an 

EVENT  OF  WHICH  THEY  WERE  PROUD. 

It  was  then  that  they  realized  more  plainly 
than  ever  before  the  fact  that  Potter  Palmer 
was  wiser  and  farther-sighted  than  most  ot 
his  contemporaries,  and  that  in  the  construc- 
tion of  a  hotel,  which  at  the  date  it  was 
erected  was  far  ahead  of  its  time,  he  builded 
better  than  they  knew. 

Mr.  Palmer  had  erected  two  hotels  before, 
but  both  were  destroyed  by  fire,  and  he  de- 
termined this  time  to  erect  a  building  which 
"moth  and  rust  could  not  corrupt"  and  which 
the  hottest  flames  could  not  consume.  The 
ashes  of  the  great  fire  of  1871  had  scarcely 
gotten  cold  before  Mr.  Palmer,  with  that^n- 
ergy  for  which  he  is  famous,  selected  the 
finest  location  in  Cnicago,  and  commenced 
the  erection  of  a  building  which  every  one 
said  would  make  him  a  bankrupt.  An  in- 
come of  $200,000  a  year  had  been  swept 
away  by  the  fire,  and  he  had  little  but  pluck 
and  land  left.  It  was  then  that  the  reputa- 
tion he  had  been  acquiring  in  Chicago  for 
twenty-five  years  became  his  capital,  and 
while  other  rich  men  were  sitting  disconso- 
late in  the  ashes  Mr.  Palmer  borrowed  $1,- 
500,000  and  commenced,  the  erection  of 

THE  MODEL  HOTEL  OF  THE  WORLD. 

With  Potter  Palmer,  to  have  anything,  is 
to  have  the  best,  and  although  he  undertook 
what  most  men  called  a  hazardous  venture, 
ten  years  have  justified  his  faith  and  vindi- 
cated his  judgment,  for  in  building  his  hotel 
he  constructed  a  mint,  which  has  been  pour- 
ing dollars  into  his  lap  ever  since. 

While  other  hotels  failed  and  dragged  into- 
bankruptcy  the  men  who  managed  them,  the 
Palmer  House  has  ever  and  always  been  a 
success.  The  reason  is  that  Mr.  Palmer  re- 
alized what  the  people  wanted,  and  gave  it 
to  them.  The  location  he  selected  was  the 
most  advantageous  for  the  purpose  in  Chi- 
cago, being  convenient  to  both  the  wholesale 
and  retail  trade,  to  all  of  the  street  car  lines, 
to  all  of  the  railroad  depots,  and  to  all  of  the 
places  of  amusement  It  is  at  the  very  focus 
of  business,  the  heart  of  the  city,  and  when 
one  wants  to  describe  the  distance  of  any 
point  to  be  reached  he  always  says,  "So  many 
blocks  from  the  Palmer  House." 

Another  reason  why  the  hotel  has  been  so 
successful  and  popular  is  that 

IT  18  ABSOLUTELY  FIRE-PROOF. 

Soon  after  it  was  built  an  active  dis- 
cussion was  engaged  in  as  to  whether  it  was 
actually  fire-proof.  Mr.  Palmer  said  that  the 
underwriters  might  select  any  room  in  his 
house,  build  a  fire  in  the  center  of 
the  floor,  of  the  fiercest  combustibles 
they  could  find.  lock  the  door, 
and  go  down  to  dinner  with  him.  If 
the  hotel  burned  or  was  injured  he 
would  stand  all  the  loss,  and  give  $10,000  to 
any  charity  that  might  be  named.  If  the  fire 
burned  out  without  doing  any  damage  ex- 
cept to  carpet  and  furniture,  they  should 
give  the  same  amount  The  underwriters 
looked  the  house  over  and  decided  not  to  ac- 
cept the  test.  The  writer,  who  was  a  reporter 
for  THE  INTER  OCEAN  at  that  time,  well  re- 
members this  discussion  and  the  interest 
it  caused. 

No  other  hotel  in  the  world  is  so  safe  from 


60 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUEY. 


fire  as  the  Palmer  House,  and  the  several 
hotel  conflagrations  at  which  so  many  lives 
were  lost  made  it  the  stopping  place  for  all 
the  wise  people  who  came  to  Chicago. 

SOME   OTHEB    ADVANTAGES. 

Another,  and  an  equally  successful  advan- 
tage in  hotel  keeping,  which  was  introduced 
at  the  Palmer  House,  and  is  still  continued 
there,  was  the  graded  system  of  prices.  A 
man  does  not  have  to  pay  $4. 50  per  day  for 
the  privilege  of  stopping  at  a  first-class,  fire- 
proof hotel,  and  then  take  his  chances  of 
getting  a  poor  room.  He  can  select  what- 
ever room  he  likes,  and  pay  for  it  accord- 
ingly, take  his  meals  where  he  chooses,  at 
the  restaurant,  or  the  cafe,  or,  if  he  prefers, 
.at  the  houses  of  his  friends,  or  eating-places 
about  town;  the  price  he  would  be 
charged  at  a  third-class  hotel,  and 


There  are  two  large  passenger  elevators, 
constructed  with  all  the  safety  appliances, 
and  made  perfectly  secure,  which  are  kept 
running  all  the  time,  in  addition  to  the  usual 
number  of  stairways,  so  that  the  upper 
rooms  are  quite  as  accessible  and  convenient 
as  those  upon  the  lower  floors. 

The  Palmer  is  the  only  hotel  in  the  city 
wnere  the  guests  have  a  choice  of  the  Euro- 
pean or  the  American  plans,  and  they  can 
take  their  meals  in  any  one  of  the  three 
magnificent  dining-rooms  on  the  parlor  floor 
or  in  the  Cafe  or  Restaurant  on  the  office 
floor.  The  Restaurant,  which  is  the  most 
elegant  in  Chicago,  and  is  not  surpassed  in 
the  country,  is  an  imperial  apartment,  circu- 
lar in  form,  and  made  of  marble  and  mir- 
rors. It  is  the  favorite  resort  of  the  fashion- 
able people  of  the  city  for  lunches  and 


PALMER  HOUSE. 


advantages  enjoyed    by   one 
or   $10     a    day,    except   in 
The  dining-room 
is      the      same 
the       only     dif- 
of  the  room.     In 


have  all  the 
-who  pays  $£ 
the  location  of  his  room, 
.and  the  bill  of  fare 
for  all  guests,  but 
ference  is  in  the  location 
all  the  requirements  which  go  to  make  up  a 
perfect  hotel  the  Palmer  House  is  complete, 
and  there  is  none  more  elegantly  and  luxuri- 
ously furnished. 

A   CITY  IN   ITSELF. 

When  the  hotel  was  first  erected  it  con- 
tained only  400  rooms,  but  that  number  soon 
proved  too  few,  and  had  to  be  increased, 
first  to  500,  then  to  600,  and  now  it  is  fre- 
quently impossible  to  accommodate  the 
numerous  patrons  of  the  house  in  the  750 
rooms  belonging  to  this  great  hostelry.  The 
house  can  accomodate  1,200  people  comfort- 
ably, and  several  times  as  many  as  2, 500  have 
taken  their  meals  there  in  a  single  day.  It  is  the 
largest  hotel  in  the  country  with  one  excep- 
tion, and  that  is  the  Palace  Hotel  of  San 
Francisco.  Next  year  Mr.  Palmer  proposes 
to  add  another  story,  which  will  increase  the 
number  of  rooms  to  850,  and  furnish  ac- 
commodations for  1,500  people. 


dinners,  and  for  suppers  after  the  theater  or 
opera. 

The  classes  of  guests  a  hotel  entertains  are 
the  best  index  of  its  character,  and  those 
who  go  the  Palmer  House  are  men  who  know 
where  to  find  the  best  accommodations. 
General  Grant  always  makes  it  his  home 
while  in  Chicago.  The  Marquis  of  Lome  and 
the  Princess  Louise  stopped  here.  President 
Diaz,  of  Mexico,  the  Corean  embassy,  and 
other  distinguished  people  inscribe  their 
autographs  upon  its  register  every  day. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  allude  to  the  luxu- 
riance with  which  it  is  furnished,  for  that  is 
a  proverb  the  world  over.  The  attendance 
Is  always  the  best,  the  bills  of  fare  are  the 
finest  o'ffered  in  the  city,  and  the  cooks  can- 
not be  surpassed  in  the  country. 

Mr.  Willis  Howe,  the  managing  partner, 
gives  every  detail  his  personal  attention,  and 
to  his  ability  and  energy  the  success  of  the 
hotel  is  largely  due. 

THE     GARDEN    OF    EDEN. 

FINEST  BATH-EOOMS  IN   THE   WOBLD. 

Attached  to  the    Palmer    House,    and  con- 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


61 


necting  with  the  main  office,  are  the  finest 
barber  shop  and  the  finest  bath-rooms  in  the 
world.  They  are  known  as  "The  Garden  of 
Eden"  from  the  name  Mr.  W.  S.  Eden,  the 
proprietor.  There  is  no  place  of  the  kind  on 
either  continent  fitted  up  with  such  magnifi- 
cence. The  cost  of  the  fixtures  in  the  barber 
shop  alone  was  $23,000,  and  of  the  bathing 
department,  $30,000.  The  former,  which  is 
40x100  feet  in  size,  is  furnished  with  mir- 
rors on  every  side  and  overhead,  in  which  are 
reflected  many  times  the  burnished  brass 
fixtures,  the  gilded  columns  and  cornices, 
the  marble  walls  and  floors,  the  elegant  plush 
and  velvet  sofas  and  chairs,  the  nicely 
dressed  and  silent  knights  of  the  brush  and 


triumph  of  modern  art  and  taste.  Nothing 
like  it  has  ever  been  attempted  before,  and  it 
is  a  crowning  triumph  for  its  projectora 

THIS    TREMONT    HOUSE. 

THE  PALACE  HOTEL  OF  CHICAGO. 

The  history  of  Chicago  would  not  be  com- 
plete without  a  reference  to  the  Tremont 
House,  the  oldest,  one  of  the  most  popular, 
and  one  of  the  most  successful  of  the  great 
hotels  that  are  the  pride  of  the  city  to-day. 
It  was  first  established  in  1833.  the  year  that 
the  city  was  incorporated.  In  1840  it  was  en- 
larged and  rebuilt.  In  1849  the  foundations 
were  laid  for  a  new  house,  which  was  built 
of  brick,  and  opened  in  1850,  as  the  on'y 
really  first-class  hotel  in  Chicago.  In  1861 


razor,  and  the  merry  whisk  of  the  sable 
artists  who  wield  the  broom,  lu  all,  there 
are  200  square  feet  of  mirrors,  one  being 
100x150  inches,  the  largest  in  this  country. 
The  washstand,  which  cost  $3,000,  is  com- 
posed of  seven  different  colored  costly  mar- 
bles, and  over  it  is  a  handsomely  designed 
marble  arch  in  which  is  a  pyramid  of  elegant 
French  clocks  that  are  set  to  the  time  of 
different  cities. 

The  bathing  department  is  a  marvel.  Every 
known  bath  can  Se  had.  Marble  floors,  mar- 
ble baths,  and  marble  scrubbing  beds  are 
everywhere.  In  the  "Macerecure"  room 
twenty  different  kinds  of  baths  are  furnished. 
In  one  room  is  a  diving  tank,  15x50,  with  a 
depth  of  51%  feet.  The  "needle"  shower 
bath,  with  its  million  sprays,  cyost  $1,000. 
Tim  Russian  and  Turkish  bath-rooms  are  fit- 
ted up  in  the  highest  style  of  perfection,  and 
throughout  the  whole  department  nothing  is 
wanting  to  make  it  the  most  consummate 


HUUbE. 

it  was  remodeled  and  stood  until  the  great 
fire  swept  everything  away.  The  present 
magnificent  structure,  erected  on  the  old 
site,  is  in  the  minds  of  many  the  handsomest 
building  in  Chicago. 

The  present  building  stands  at  the  corner  of 
Lake  and  Dearborn  streets.  It  is  in  the  cen- 
tral business  district,  and  therefore  the  most 
convenient  for  merchants  who  come  to  Chi- 
cago to  trade.  It  is  six  stories  high,  of  beau- 
tifully carved  Amherst  sand  stone,  and  in  de- 
sign and  construction  has  no  superior  for  the 
purpose  for  which  it  was  erected  in  America 
or  in  the  world.  The  offices  and  parlors  are 
finished  and  furnished  in  a  style  that  could 
not  be  surpassed,  and  the  chambers  are  as 
luxurious  as  can  be  found  in 
any  private  palace  in  the  city, 
each  having  hot  ana  cold  water,  marble  man- 
tels, grates,  etc.,  all  perfectly  lighted  and 
ventilated  from  the  street  or  the  central 
court,  furnished  with  solid  black  walnut  and 


62 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


velvet,  or  polished  rosewood  with  satin  dra- 
peries and  carpets  matching  or  contrasting 
tastefully. 

Especial  attention  has  been  given  to  sewer 
•connections  and  drainage — the  arrangement 
of  traps  and  otherwise  perfect  plan  of 
plumbing  successfully  guard  the  hotel  from 
all  noxious  gases,  giving  absolute  security 
against  malaiia  in  any  form  from  the  usual 
auses. 

A  shaft  120  feet  high,  4x5  feet  area, 
heated,  into  which  are  led  ducts,  taking  the 
foul  air,  if  any,  from  every  department,  out 
of  and  above  the  building,  completes  the 
system  of  ventilation,  and  as  a  result  the 
Tremont  excels  in  the  purity  of  its  atmos- 
phere, being  free  from  the  pernicious  odors 
always  found  with  less  considerate  construc- 
tion. 

Tt-pre  are  four  stairways  from  the  base- 
ment to  the  top  of  the  house,  and  two  ele- 
vators for  the  use  of  guests,  affording  easy 
access  to  all  stories,  and  ample  egress  in  case 
of  alarm  from  any  cause. 

The  building  is  practically  fire  proof,  being 
•constructed  with  all  modern  means  for  pro- 
tection from  damage  by  that  element  Stand- 
ing waterpipes,  with  thirty  openings,  having 
hose  attached  of  sufficient  length  to  flood 
with  water  every  room  and  corridor,  con- 
nected with  a  stationary  steam  engine,  the 
floors  all  laid  with  cement,  the  partitions 
^filled  in  with  brick,  preventing  any  possibil- 
ity of  fire  spreading  in  case  of  accident, 
and  there  have  been  placed  in  the  halls 
of  the  house  gongs,  rung  by  electricity, 
as  an  alarm  in  case  of  fire,  under  control  of 
the  office,  and  will  be  set  going  instantly  on 
the  slightest  alarm,  and  continue  to  ring. 
This  ringing,  with  the  system  of  calling  each 
.room  by  watchmen  stationed  on  the  floors. 
Insures  the  speediest  alarm  to  guests  it  is 
possible  to  give  in  case  of  accident. 

There  are  red  lanterns  in  each  hall,  show- 
ing the  stairways,  and  at  the  end  of  every 
•corridor  outside  the  building  are  iron-ladder 
fire  escapes  to  the  ground. 

From  the  roof  and  the  three  stores  be'ow  it 
there  is  access  to  the  tops  of  adjoining  build- 
ings, making  a  way  of  escape  over  the  roofs, 
from  Dearborn  to  State  street,  a  full  block, 
giving  security  to  guests  no  other  hotel  can 
offer. 

There  are  ample  accommodation  for  800 
guests  in  a  first-class,  unequaled  way,  and 
although  located  so  conveniently  in  the  busi- 
est quarter  of  the  city,  central  to  all  the 
great  depots,  the  banks,  wholesale  stores,  and 
places  of  elegant  shopping  and  amusements, 
it  is  yet  most  quiet  and  homelike, 

Thie  management  of  the  proprietors,  John 
A.  Rice  &  Co. ,  is  liberal,  and  the  scale  of  rates 
per  diem  is  lower  than  ever  before  made  for 
equal  accommodations,  on  the  American 
plan.  The  house  is  regarded  as  the  most 
pleasant  and  comfortable  hotel  home  for  the 
tourist  and  resident  guest  in  Chicago,  and 
no  effort  of  expense  or  personal  attention 
is  spared  to  maintain  the  high  reputation 
which  has  already  won  for  the  enterpise  the 
pride  and  admiration  of  our  citizens  and  the 
world  of  travelers. 

The  elegant  barber-shop  connected  with 
the  Tremont  House  is  managed  by  Mr.  W.  S. 
Eden,  who  also  has  the  Garden  of  Eden  at  the 
Palmer. 

GRAND  PACIFIC  HOTEL. 

THE  HEADQUARTERS  OF  STATESMEN. 

If  a  newspaper  reporter  or  a  citizen  wants 
to  nnd  traveling  statesm°n  he  goes  to  the 


Grand  Pacific  Hotel,  for  it  is  there  they  al  - 
ways  stop.  Mine  host  Drake  has  entertained 
more  famous  men  than  any  landlord  of  his 
generation,  and  within  the  walls  of  the  great 
palace  over  which  he  presides  have  been 
lodged  and  banqueted  all  the  great  men  of 
the  generation.  It  was  here  that  President 
Arthur  stopped  during  his  recent  visit  to 
Chicago,  and  while  he  was  attending  the  Na- 
tional Convention  in  1880.  It  was  here  that 
General  Garfield  was  when  nominated  for 
President,  and  here  his  first  reception  was 
held..  All  the  Senators,  Congressmen,  Cabinet 
officers,  and  other  dignitaries  make  the  Grand 
Pacific  Hotel  their  rendezvous  while  in 
Chicago. 

It  is  also  the  headquarters  of  the  railroad 
managers,  and  in  one  of  its  club-rooms  their 
frequent  gatherings  are  held.  Mr  Vander- 
bilt  and  Jay  GoukTalways  stop  here  when  in 
Chicago,  and  all  men  whose  taste  leads  them 
to  select  the  beat  that  can  be  had.  Patti, 
the  famous  cantatrice;  Nilsson,  Gerster 
Kellogg,  Albani.  and  all  the  famous  artistes 
make  it  their  home  during  the  opera  seasons. 
It  is  the  stopping  place  of  princes  and  dukes 
and  earls  when  they  visit  us,  and  the  list  of 
famous  people  could  be  lengthened  out  to 
fill  columns.  Scarcely  a  day  passes  but  some 
man  or  woman  of  worldwide  fame  writes  his 
or  her  name  upon  the  register,  which  bears 
the  autographs  of  kings,  emperors,  and  presi- 
dents. 

The  Grand  Pacific  is  not  only  a  great  public 
ornament,  and  one  of  the  sights  rural  visit- 
ors go  to  see,  but  it  is  kept  in  a  manner  that 
makes  the  people  of  Chicago  proud  of  the 
house  and  its  proprietors.  All  the  great  ban- 
quets are  given  here,  and  they  are  given  on  a 
scale  that  eclipses  anything  ever  seen  in  the 
West.  The  Bar  Association  chose  it  as  the 
proper,  and,  in  fact,  the  only  place  at  which 
Lord  Coleridge  could  be  entertained  in  a  man- 
ner consonant  with  his  dignity  and  fame. 

It  was  with  rare  foresight  and  judgment 
that  the  hotel  was  located,  for  when  its 
foundations  were  laid,  it  stood  upon  the  ex- 
treme limit  of  the  business  district  of  the 
city,  and  thoughtless  people  said  it  was  a 
foolish  thing  to  place  so  noble  a  structure  so 
far  from  the  center  of  trade.  But  time  and 
the  growth  of  Chicago  has  demonstrated  the 
wisdom  of  its  projectors,  for  it  is  now  in  the 
most  convenient  and  accessible  locality.  The 
Postoffice  and  Custom  House  have  since  been 
placed  across  the  street  in  one  direction,  and 
the  new  Board  of  Trade,  one  of  the  finest 
buildings  in  the  land,  stands  opposite  in  an- 
other. It  will  soon  be  the  center  of  the  new 
commercial  district,  for  around  it  are  being 
erected  the  finest  blocks  and  business  houses 
in  Chicago.  It  is  the  nearest  first-class  hotel, 
to  the  three  great  depots  of  the  city. 

It  is  conveniently  located  to  the  places  of 
amusement  and  otner  attractions  for  which 
Chicago  is  famous.  In  convenience  of  loca- 
tion, in  the  luxuriousness  of  its  apartments 
in  the  elegance  of  its  table,  its  splendid 
service,  and  in  all  the  whys  and 
wherefores  that  go  to  make  up  the  attrac- 
tions and  advantages  of  a  hotel,  it  stands 
pre-eminent,  and  there  is  no  place  in  the 
world  where  a  traveler  can  secure  such  com- 
forts, such  style,  and  such  attractions  for  the 
prices  that  are  charged. 

The  senior  proprietor,  Mr.  John  B.  Drake, 
who  has  kept  a  hotel  here  ever  since  Chicago 
is  a  city,  and' whose  name  is  familiar  to  the 
traveling  public,  gives  the  affairs  of  the  house 
his  personal  attention,  and  is  scarcely  absent 
a  day  during  the  entire  year,  but  remains  in 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


G3 


the  house  looking  after  the  comfort  of  his 
guests,  greeting  them  upon  their  arrival,  and 
bidding-  them  farewell  upon  their  departure, 
with  a  cordial  courtesy  that  they  always  re- 
member. His  partners,  Mr.  Turner  and  Mr. 
Parker,  are  gentlemen  well-known  to  the 
traveling  public,  as  hosts  of  the  highest 
order,  and  the  gentlemanly  corps  of  assistants 
are  always  attentive  and  polite. 

THE    SHERMAN    HOUSE. 

AN  HOTEL   WITH  A  EEPUTATION. 

The  history  of  Chicago  could  not  be  accu- 
rately written  without  a  reference  to  the  his- 
torical Sherman  House  and  its  proprietor, 
J.  Irving  Pearce,  one  of  the  oldest  and  best- 
known  hotel  men  in  Chicago,  who  kept  the 
Adams  House,  at  the  corner  of  Lake  street 
and  Michigan  avenue,  when  the  place  where 
the  new  Board  of  Trade  now  stands  was  a 
cow  pasture. 

Mr.  Pearce  was  for  many  years  President  of 
the  Third  National  Bank  of  Chicago,  but  be- 
came proprietor  of  the  Sherman  House  a  little 
more  than  a  year  ago,  and  is  now  giving  his 
whole  time  to  the  hotel  business.  Since  he  be- 
came proprietor,  he  has  put  entirely  new 
furniture  throughout  the  house,  and  it  is 
now  not  surpassed  by  any  hotel  in  the  coun- 
try foi  the  attractions  "and  advantages  it 
offers  to  tne  traveler.  Its  rooms  are  larger 
and  more  convenient  than  those  of  any  other 
hotel  in  the  country  and  are  luxuriously  fur- 
nished. 

The  location,  at  the  corner  of  Clark  and 
Randolph  streets,  opposite  the  Court  House, 
is  in  the  exact  center  of  the  business  district 
of  the  city,  and  within  a  block  of  the  Beard 
of  Trade  and  telegraph  offices.  The  ticket 
offices  of  all  the  railroads  are  immediately 
under  or  around  the  Sherman  House,  and  it 
is  within  two  minutes'  walk  of  the  principal 
theaters. 

ICELAND  HOTEL. 

THE  BEST  LOCATION  IN  THE  CITY. 

The  Leland  Hotel,  owned  and  kept  by  War- 
ren Leland,  a  member  of  that  famous  iamilv 
of  landlords  whose  name  is  a  synonym  for  a 
well-kept  house,  is  noted  and  conspicuous  for 
several  things.  In  the  first  place  it  occupies 
the  best  location  of  any  hotel  in  the  United 
States,  and  one  that  is  not  surpassed  in  the 
world.  Just  on  the  edge  of  the  wholesale 
and  retail  districts  of  the  city,  on  the  Grand 
Boulevard  of  Michigan  avenue,  across  from 
the  Lake  Front  Park  it  overlooks  the  lake, 
and  furnishes  a  delightful  summer  resort  as 
well  as  a  cozy  and  comfortable  winter  home. 
The  fashionable  driveway  of  Chicago  passes 
its  doors,  and  it  is  a  rare  sight  to  witness 
from  the  Leland  windows  the  beautiful 
equipages  and  their  handsomely  dressed  oc- 
cupants who  are  continually  passing  and  re- 
passing. 

In  tne  second  place,  it  is  quiet,  aristocratic, 
and  luxurious  in  all  its  appointments.  It 
caters  only  to  the  best  classes  of  people, 
and  the  fact  that  one  stops  at  the  Leland  is 
almost  a  certificate  of  high  character  and 
reputation.  The  house  is  sought  as  a  resi- 
dea^e  br  sini  oxjrjiiab  prino33  as  John  V. 


Farwell,  and  such  lawyers  and  statesmen  as 
Emery  A.  Storrs.  General  Schoneld,  who 
has  recently  succeeded  General  Sheridan  in 
command  of  the  Department  of  the  Mis- 
souri, resides  here  with  his  staff,  and  all  the 
army  officers  make  it  their  headquarters 
when  in  Chicago.  It  is  free  from  the  noise 
and  confusion  that  make  the  larger  hotels  so 
uncomfortable,  and  Mr.  Leland's  guests  find 
as  much  quiet,  ar  much  comfort,  and  as 
much  luxury  as  can  be  had  at  the  mansion 
of  a  millionaire  on  Prairie  avenue. 

In  the  third  place,  it  is  one  of  the  best-kept 
houses  in  the  land.  The  rooms  are  elegantly 
furnished,  and  the  dust  and  smoke  that 
choked  the  occupants  of  other  houses  do 
not  invade  its  windows.  Its  caterer  seeks 
the  best  markets  and  its  cook  is  famous. 
The  bill  of  fare  is  a  model,  and  its  dinners 
are  sought  by  men  who  wish  something  bet- 
ter than  can  be  elsewhere  obtained.  As  a 
family  hotel,  or  a  stopping-place  for  ladies 
traveling  alone,  the  Leland  can  be  recom- 
mended, for  there  is  no  hotel  in  the  country 
so  famous  for  the  courtesy  and  attention 
paid  to  its  guests. 

The  reputation  of  Mr.  Leland  as  a  proprie- 
tor is  enough  to  make  the  hotel  noted,  and  it 
may  be  said  that  although  it  has  passed 
through  the  hands  of  several  people  since 
it  was  erected  and  christened  the  Gardner 
House,  after  the  fire,  it  was  never  a  success 
until  he  took  hold  of  it. 

THE  CIAFJTON  HOUSE. 

A   COZY  AND  COMFORTABLE  HOTEL. 

For  those  who  want  a  cozy  and  comfortable 
house,  without  the  noise  and  confusion  that 
cannot  be  avoided  at  the  larger  hotels,  we 
cordially  recommend  the  Clifton  House,  one 
of  the  neatest,  nicest,  and  most  luxurious 
hostelries  in  the  country.  Here  everything 
is  quiet,  genteel,  and  aristocratic,  and  the 
proprietors  pride  themselves  upon  the  high 
character  of  the  people  who  make  the  Clif- 
ton their  stopping  place.  It  is  situated  at  the 
corner  of  Monroe  street  and  Wabash  avenue, 
just  at  the  edge  of  the  wholesale  district, 
and  is  surrounded  by  the  finest  retail  estab- 
lishments in  the  city.  It  was  reopened  a 
little  more  than  a  year  ago  by  Messrs.  Wood- 
cock and  Loring,  formerly  of  the  Matteson 
House,  and  was  then  newly  furnished 
throughout. 

THE   ATLANTIC    HOTEL, 

BY  W.    P.    F.    MK8EBVE, 

is  a  structure  of  marble,  containing  150 
rooms,  situated  on  Van  Buren  street,  oppo- 
site the  Lake  Shore  and  Rock  Island  Depot, 
and  only  half  a  block  from  the  Postoffice  ana 
new  Board  of  Trade  Building.  It  furnishes 
first-class  accommodations  for  $2  per  day. 
W.  P.  F.  Meserve  is  the  proprietor. 

MUNGER'S    LAUNDRY. 

THE  BEST   IN  THE   COUNTKY. 

Confessedly  at  the  head  of  the  laundry  in- 
terests, not  only  of  Chicago  but  of  the  entire 
United  States  and  Canada,  stands  the  firm  of 
G.  M.  Munger  &  Co. ,  whose  headquarters  are 
established  at  Nos.  1345  and  1347  Wabash 
avenue.  Within  a  few  years  this  former  un- 
important calling  has  grown  to  a  gigantic  in- 
dustry, in  which  large  capital  is  invested,  and 
which  furnishes  profitable  employment  to 


CHICAGO'S  FIEST  HALF  CENTUBY. 


thousands  of  men  and  women  who  now  look 
to  it  for  support  Something  concerning  the 
acknowledged  leaders  in  this  department  of 
business,  their  methods  and  establishments, 
cannot  fail  to  interest  such  readers  of  the 
trade  review  as  hold  to  the  doctrine  that 
"cleanliness  is  next  to  godliness"  among  the 
Christian  virtues 

The  brothers  who  comprise  the  firm  are 
three  in  number.  Mr.  G.  M.  Hunger,  the  sen- 
ior member,  came  to  Chicago  in  1868, 
and  was  subsequently  joined  by 
his  younger  brothers,  who  are  now 
associated  with  him.  Soon  after 
Mr.  Hunger's  arrival  here  he  purchased  a 
smaH  laundry,  which  was  then  established  at 
No.  53  Washington  street  The  business 
thus  secured  increased  so  rapidly  xinder  his 
skillful  management  that  the  confined  quar- 
ters in  which  he  found  himself  were  soon  in- 
adequate to  its  requirements,  amd  about  two 
years  later  he  moved  into  a  more  com- 
modious building  in  the  rear  of  Nos.  87  and 
and  89  on  the  same  street,  and 
opened  a  receiving  and  delivery 
omce  at  No.  86  Dearborn  street, 
in  the  old  Postoffice  building.  The  new  es- 
tablishment had  just  been  placed  in  com- 
plete working  order,  and  a  season  of  genuine 
prosperity  appeared  to  be  opening  before  the 
young  laundryman,  when  the  great  fire  oc- 
curred and  swept  away  in  a  night  all  of  his 
tangible  assets.  But  before  the  smoldering 
embers  were  cool  Hunger  had  his  plans  ma- 
tured for  the  future,  and  by  the  time  the 
burned  out  Chicagoans  had  skirmished 
round  and  procured  something  in  the  shape 
of  garments  to  wash,  he  was  ready  to  wash 
them  in  a  new  laundry  on  Lake  avenue,  near 
Thirty-ninth  street  In  the  spring  of  1872 
the  firm  had  in  a  measure  recovered  from  its 
losses,  and  opened  a  commodious  establish- 
ment in  the  Hemlock  block,  at'  the  corner  of 
LaSalle  and  Michigan  streets,  where  it  re- 
mained until  it  removed  into  its  present 
quarters  on  \V abash  avenue.  The  building 
now  occupied  by  the  brothers  at  the  above 
ocation  is  50x150  feet,  and  is  wholly  de- 
voted to  laundry  purposes.  To  describe  it, 
together  with  the  processes  and  machinery 
in  use,  -would  exceed  the  prescribed  limits  of 
a  trade  review  article.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that 
the  building  is  simply  complete  in  all  its  ap- 
pointments, and  is  fully  equipped  with  what- 
ever is  latest  and  most  perfect  in  the  way  of 
laundry  machinery.  In  this  connection  it 
may  be  mentioned  that  Mr.  G.  M.  Hunger, 
while  neither  a  mechanic  nor  an  inventor,  has 
frequently  improved  upon  and  perfected 
the  crude  ideas  of  others,  and  may  be  fairly 
considered  as  the  real  originator  of  many  of 
the  labor- saving  processes  which  he  uses. 

In  1881  the  orothers  started  their  West 
End  Laundry  at  No.  523  West  Madison  street 
This  proved  to  be  such  a  pronounced  success 
that  two  years  later  they  felt  justified  in  pur- 
chasing, at  an  expense  of  $15,000,  the  prop- 
erty Nos  518  and  520  on  the  same  busy 
thoroughfare,  and  erecting  thereon,  at  a  fur- 
ther expense  of  $25,000,  a  building  to  ac- 
commodate their  West  Side  business.  The 
West  End  Laundry,  while  not  the  largest,  is 
said  to  be  the  most  perfectly  appointed  es- 
tablishment of  the  kind  in  the  United  States. 
and  is  frequently  visited  by  laundry  propri- 
etors from  other  parts  of  the  country  in  pur- 
euit  of  "pointers."  It  is  under  the  personal 
supervision  of  Mr.  L.  L  Blackman,  who  has 
abundantly  proved  by  his  management  of  it 
his  business  ability.  In  1882,  G.  M. 
Hunger  &  Co.  started  a  laundry  at 


Des  Moines,  Iowa,  which,  like  all 
their  other  ventures,  has  proved  eminently 
successful.  The  latest  scheme  in  which  the 
Messrs.  Hunger  have  engaged  is  marked 
by  the  foresight  and  energy  which  are  char- 
acteristic of  the  men.  They  have  recently 
purchased  a  handsome  property  on  Wash- 
ington avenue,  St.  Louis,  upon  which  they 
are  now  erecting  another  monster  laundry,, 
which  will  be  a  credit  to  that  beautiful  city 
and  to  themselves.  It  will  have  as  large  a 
business  capacity  as  that  on  Wabash  avenue. 
The  Hessrs.  Hunger  have  six  receiving1  and 
delivery  offices  in  this  city;  their  business  is 
enormous  and  rapidly  increasing;  their 
reputation  as  sagacious,  honorable  men  is 
without  a  blot,  and  the  great  establishments 
which  they  conduct  with  such  ability  are 
among  the  prominent  objects  of  industrial 
interest  in  Chicago. 

GURNET  PHAETON  AND    CAB  CO. 


CHEAP  AND   STYLISH  LOCOMOTION. 

Every  citizen  of  Chicago  must  necessarily 
be  interested  in  the  company  above  named. 
The  business  in  which  they  are  engaged  fills 
a  need  long  felt  in  Chicago,  and  this  has  been 
signified  by  the  active  patronage  the  com- 
pany have  enjoyed  since  last  spring,  when  it 
first  commenced  businesa  The  company 
has  been  incorporated  under  the  laws  of  the 
State  with  a  capital  of  $150,000.  Mr.  Smith 
Niles  is  President,  Hr.  A.  G.  Ashley  Sec- 
retary and  Treasurer,  and  Mr.  L.  B.  Stark- 
weather Superintendent  The  business  of 
this  company  is  to  carry  people  from  point 
to  point  in  the  city  at  a  very  low  rate  of  fare. 
The  vehicles  used  are  neat  and  tasty  and 
afford  a  comfortable  ride,  and  are  without 
doubt  the  most  complete  and  comfortable 
two-wheeled  vehicle  in  usa  The  rates  are 
seventy-five  cents  per  hour  for  one  or  two 
persons,  and  $1  per  hour  for  three  or  four 
persons,  and  twenty-five  cents  per  mile  for 
one  person.  The  popu  arity  of  this  mode  of 
conveyance  will  be  seen  when  we  state  that 
thirty  Gurneys  are  now  in  use,  and  that 
there  is  business  constantly  for  many  more. 
Fully  150  will  be  in  use  by  this  company 
within  the  next  year.  The  vehicles  cost 
about  $500  each,  and  as  yet  the  company 
have  not  been  able  to  get  them  manufactured 
as  fast  as  they  have  been  wanted.  These 
Gurneys  are  manufactured  under  patents, 
and  the  company  above  named  have  bought 
the  right  to  use  them  in  Cook  County.  It  is 
only  within  a  period  of  nineteen  months 
that  these  vehicles  have  been  introduced  in 
this  country.  This  company  are  aoout  to 
erect  a  large  barn  for  the  use  of  their  stock, 
which  will  be  finished  in  May  and  will  ac- 
commodate 300  horses. 


CHAPTER  7. 


THE  ROME  OF   RAILROADS. 

THEY  ALL  LEAD  TO   CHICAGO. 

THE  PIEST   TRACK  LAID. 

In  this  city,  where  railroads  center  with 
enough  track  to  twice  belt  the  globe,  it  is  not 
only  wonderful  and  instructive  but  it  is  also 
amusing  to  look  back  to  the  time  when  the 
people  were  disposed  to  look  with  doubt 
upon  these  great  agents  of  civilization,  and 
were  afraid  they  would  destroy  the  trade  of 
Chicago. 

It  was  always  a  superstition  with  the  peo- 
ple of  olden  time  that  every  new  invention 
or  idea  had  its  origin  with  the  devil,  and  the 
people  who  had  the  courage  to  push  forward 
such  new  ideas  and  inventions  were  perse- 
cuted as  witches,  or  persons  of  unclean 
spints  possessed  of  devils.  This  was  no 
more  fallacious  than  the  idea  that  took 
possession  of  the  retail  merchants 
of  Chicago,  when  they  bent  their  energiet 
to  defeat  the  first  railroad  scheme  for  fear  is 
would  destroy  their  trade. 

AFBAID  OF   THE     SPIBITS   OP    WIND    AND  WATEB. 

The  old  superstition  of  the  Chinese,  who 
were  afraid  to  offend  the  spirits  of  wind  and 
water  by  building  a  railroad,  was  not  more 
ridiculous  than  the  fear  of  early  Chicagoans 
that  the  building  of  a  railroad  from  here  to 
Galena  would  take  away  their  retail  trade, 
which  was  then  the  only  boast  of  the  town. 

Instead  of  taking  from  Chicago  her  retail 
trade  the  railroads  have  made  the  place  the 
great  center  of  the  wholesale  trade  in  the 
West,  and  have  given  her  that  prominence 
over  all  other  places,  to  which  she  never 
could  have  attained  without  the  miles  of 
iron  track,  reaching  out  like  so  many 
arteries  from  the  heart,  over  which 
course  tne  pulses  of  trade,  as  measured 
by  the  metropolis.  With  only  the  marine  ad- 
vantages of  the  lake  it  is  doubtful  if  Chi- 
cago could  have  outstripped  her  rivals — St. 
Louis  and  Cincinnati— on  their  magnificent 
river  routes,  but  with  the  railroad  systems  of 
the  Northwest,  all  beginning  here,  and  con- 
necting with  the  trunk  lines  to  the  East, 
there  was  no  longer  any  question  as  to  where 
would  be  located  the  trade  center. 

BArLBOAD    PBOPHKST. 

It  is  curious  to  note  that  the  first  prophesy 
of  Chicago  as  a  railroad  center  was  by  a 
young  soldier  stationed  at  Fort  Dearborn  in 


1830,  and  his  prophesy  was  for  a  road  over  a 
line  which  has  become  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant in  linking  the  West  and  the  East  to- 
gether. 

This  railroad  prophet  was  Lieutenant  John 
G.  Furman,  of  the  Fifth  Infantry,  United 
States  army.  He  was  at  Fort  Dearborn 
for  several  years,  and  enjoyed  the  hunting  on 
the  prairies  and  the  fishing  in  the  lake  and 
river  so  much  that,  June  13,  1830,  he  wrote 
to  a  magazine  published  in  Baltimore,  urging 
the  editor,  who  was  his  friend,  to  come  out 
and  join  him.  In  that  year  there  was  only 
twenty-three  miles  of  railroad  in  the  coun- 
try, and  not  a  rail  laid  west  of  the  Alleghany 
Mountains,  The  few  miles  in  the  East  was 
only  an  experiment,  and  yet  the  young  sol- 
dier who  believed  in  Chicago  spoke  of  his 
friend  coming  West  as  though  the  Baltimore 
and  Ohio  1  toad  hud  already  been  built  through 
to  Chicago, and  only  awaited  a  formal  opening. 
He  said:  "When  the  railroad  is  finished  be- 
tween Baltimore  and  the  Boot  Biver  perhaps 
you  may  be  induced  to  come  out  and  take  a 
week's  sport  with  us,  or  if  you  cannot  spare 
the  time  we  must  try  and  pack  up  some  of 
our  good  things  in  ice  and  send  on  a  locomo- 
tive steam-propelling  car. " 

IT  IS  FULFILLED. 

Lieutenant  Furman's  prophecy  has  long  ago 
been  fulfilled,  and  now  there  is  nothing  easier 
than  to  pack  up  good  things  in  ice  in  Chi- 
cago and  send  them  to  suffering  humanity 
down  in  Baltimore. 

But  one  of  the  most  curious  things  in  Chi- 
cago's railroad  history  is  that  it  was  a  begin- 
ning point,  rather  than  a  terminal,  and  yet  it 
was  not  considered  so  important  as  the 
little  mining  town  way  up  in  the 
northwestern  corner  of  tne  State, 
which  was  the  terminal  point  When  tne 
charter  for  the  old  Galena  and  Chicago  Union 
Kailroad  was  granted  by  the  Legislature, 
Jan.  16,  1836 — before  Chicago  was  yet  in- 
corporated as  a  city — there  was  so  little 
thought  of  Chicago's  chances  to  become  a 
great  city  that,  while  backed  by  Chicago  cap- 
ital and  pushed  by  Chicago  men,  influence 
enough  could  not'be  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  Legislature  to  induce  it  to  grant  the 
charter  until  the  name  had  been  switched 
around  with  the  engine  in  tte  rear,  and,  in- 
stead of  the  Chicago  and  Galena  Koad,  it  had 
to  be  called  the  Galena  and  Chicago  Road. 

WISE  MEN  MADE  FOOLS. 

The  wise  men  who  controlled  the  destinies 
of  the  State  of  Illinois  in  those  days  were  so 
possessed  with  the  Western  idea  that  they 
went  to  the  furthermost  point  of  their  terri- 
tory to  find  the  railroad  Mecca,  and  believed 
that  Galena  was  of  much  more  importance 


66 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


than  Chicago.  It  might  have  been  then,  with 
its  lead  mines  and  its  river  route,  but  the 
change  was  out  another  of  the  Chicago  sur- 
prises -which  have  played  such  an  important 
part  in  her  history. 

The  primary  incentive  to  the  incorporation 
of  this  road  was  the  advancement  of  real 
estate  prices  in  Chicasro.  Its  capital  stock 
was  $100,000.  with  power  to  increase  it  to 
$1,000,000.  It  was  optional  with  the  com- 
pany to  make  portions  of  it,  with  branches  of 
the  same,  a  toll-road,  to  be  operated  either 
with  horse  or  steam  power.  William  Bennett, 
Thomas  Drummond  (now  Judge  of  the 
United  States  Circuit  Court),  J.  C.  Goodhue, 
Peter  Semple,  J.  M.  Turner,  and  J.  B.  Thomp- 
son, Jr. ,  were  authorized  as  commissioners  to 
receive  subscriptions  to  the  stock.  Their 
charter  allowed  three  years  from  its  date  as 
the  limit  of  the  time  in  which  work  on  it 
should  be  commenced,  to  comply  with  which 
provision  the  company  commenced  the  ques- 
tionable enterprise  in  1838. 

THE  FIBST   BOAD. 

This  was  a  road  from  the  West  Side,  and, 
as  the  whole  broad  prairie,  now  occu- 
pied by  the  most  populous  division  of  Chi- 
cago, was  then  a  great  slough,  and  in  the 
spring  of  the  year  a  veritable  lake,  on  which 
one  might  row  from  the  river  to  Oak  Park— a 
place  better  fitted  for  steamboat  travel 
than  for  railroading— the  first  prob- 
lem was  how  to  get  a  foundation 
for  a  road.  There  was  a  popular  superstition 
with  the  people  that  this  slough  had  no  bot- 
tom, or,  at  least,  none  that  could  be  reached 
with  any  practicable  length  of  support  for 
tressle.  Piles  were  resorted  to  with  longi- 
tudinal stringers  to  secure  support  from  one 
to  another. 

In  this  way  the  work  of  building  the  road 
was  begun  along  Madison  street  It  did  not 
progress  far,  however,  and  was  abandoned, 
and  no  more  attempts  made  until  1846, 
when  William  B.  Ogden,  John  Turner,  and 
Stephen  F.  Gale  purchased  the  charter  from 
Messrs.  Townsend  and  Mather,  of  New  York, 
who,  up  to  this  time,  held  it  with  the  assets 
of  the  company.  They  were  to  pay  $10,000 
in  stock  down,  and  $10,000  on  the  comple- 
tion of  the  road  to  the  Fox  River.  A  pre- 
liminarv  survey  was  made,  and  the  work 
put  in  charge  of  Richard  P.  Morgan.  It  was 
at  this  juncture  that  the  opposition  made  its 
appearance,  because  of  the  fear  that  the 
road  would  injure  the  retail  trade  of  Chicago. 
It  was  feared  that  by  quick  and  easy  transfers 
the  farmers  would  find  their  goods  delivered 
to  them  nearer  home,  and  Chicago  would 
cease  to  be  a  trade  center,  as  it  was  fast  be- 
coming. 

NEW  LIFE  AND   THE   BESUT/T. 

But  through  the  efforts  of  Benjamin  W. 
Raymond  and  John  B.  Turner  in  negotiating 
loans  in  New  York,  and  the  reluctant  home 
subscriptions  to  the  stock,  the  road  was 
finally  completed  to  Cottage  Hill,  a  distance 
of  sixteen  miles,  in  December,  1849.  The 
road-bed  was  not  good,  and  the  track  con- 
sisted of  wooden  stringers  faced  with  strap 
iron.  It  was  Chicago's  first  railroad,  and  its 
opening  was  an  important  event,  despite 
the  fact  tbat  the  company  had  to  bring  old 
and  worn-out  rolling  stock  from  the  East. 
The  engine  was  one  of  the  first  pattern,  and 
the  cars  were  of  the  most  primitive  order. 

It  was  not  until  three  years  later,  May  21, 
1852,  that  Chicago  had  any  Eastern  railway 
connection.  The  Michigan  Southern  Road, 
begun  in  1837,  and  the  Michigan  Central,  be- 
gun in  1842,  were  sharp  rivals  in  the  enter- 


prise of  reaching  Chicago,  and  work  was 
pushed  with  all  the  rapidity  possible  oy  both 
roads.  The  cars  of  the  Michigan  Central  ran 
into  Chicago  May  21,  and  those  of  the  Michi- 
gan Southern  the  day  following.  Both  were 
greeted  with  shouts  of  welcome  by  the  peo- 
ple, who  had  then  learned  to  look  upon  the 
railroad  in  its  proper  light,  as  a  stimulant  of 
prosperity. 

THE  BOME  OF   KATLBOADS. 

The  other  railroads  now  centering  in  Chi- 
cago followed  in  a  few  years  after  these  first 
efforts,  and  to-day  it  is  appropriately  called 
the  Rome  of  Railroads.  In  place  of  the 
rickety  strap-iron  Galena  and  Chicago  Road, 
we  have  the  great  Chicago  and  Northwestern 
with  its  nearly  5,000  miles  of  track  thread- 
ing all  parts  of  the  Northwestern  States  and 
Territories,  and  instead  of  the  old  wornout 
rolling-stock  brought  from  the  East  for  the 
first  road,  there  are  mammoth  locomotives 
and  solid  trains  of  magnificent  parlor,  sleep- 
ing, and  dining  cars,  while  one  might  as  well 
attempt  to  number  the  cattle  on  the  plains 
as  to  count  the  freight  cars  that  carry  the 
great  wealth  of  products  from  the  garden  of 
the  Nation  to  the  store-house  of  the  world. 

As  its  great  rival  for  this  Northwestern 
trade  comes  the  Chicago,  Milwaukee  and  St. 
Paul  Road,  with  4,400  miles  of  iron  binding 
the  States  of  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  and  Da- 
kota to  Chicago  as  their  metropolis.  To  the 
West  reaches  the  4,000  miles  of  the  Chicago. 
Burlington  and  Quincy,  and  almost  as  many 
miles  of  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific, 
laying  out  the  States  of  Illinois,  Iowa.  Ne- 
braska, and  the  Territories  beyond  in  garden 
plats,  and  the  Southwest  is  held  in  a  firm 
grasp  by  the  6,000  miles  of  the  Wabash  sys- 
tem, and  St.  Louis  made  a  suburban  station. 

SECBET  OF  NATIONAL  BECONSTBUCTION. 

The  South  is  more  firmly  united  to  the 
North  by  the  band  of  steel  "from  Chicago  to 
New  Orleans,  which  forms  the  Illinois  Central 
system,  than  by  the  laws  that  force  her  to 
remain  in  the  Union. 

Instead  of  Chicago  belonging  to  Hoosier- 
dom  or  the  Old  Dominion,  as  was  once 
boasted,  these  localities  now  belong  to  Chi- 
cago by  the  right  of  her  furnishing  a  market 
for  their  hooppoles  and  rye  whisky,  as  well 
as  all  other  products,  and  transportation  over 
the  Monon  route,  the  Eastern  Illinois,  West- 
ern Indiana,  and  Panhandle  Roads. 

To  New  York  Chicago  is  a  twin  sister,  as  in- 
separably united  by  the  iron  ligament  of  the 
eight  trunk  lines  of  railroads  as  were  the 
Siamese  twins  by  their  natural  bond  of  con- 
junction. 

Of  the  total  122,813  miles  of  railroad  in 
the  United  States  to-day,  there  are  roads 
representing  40.792  centering  in  Chicago, 
fully  one-third,  and  making  it  the  greatest 
railroad  center  in  the  world. 


THE    nxrNOIS    CENTRA!,. 

TO   THE   SUNNY   SOUTH. 

The  Illinois  Central  Railroad  has  been  one 
of  the  most  important  factors  in  the  devel- 
opment of  Chicago  and  the  West  It  was  one 
of  the  first  roads  built,  and  has  been  the 
commercial  backbone  of  Illinois,  making  its 
products  maiketable.  and  increasing  its 
growth  and  wealth.  It  now  covers  fifteen 
degrees  of  latitude,  and  connects  Chicago 
with  the  Missouri  River  and  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico. 

It  is  the  only  road  that  has  an  unbroken, 
direct  line  to  the  South,  and  makes  a  journey 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  UKUTUBI. 


to  the  land  of  perpetual  summer  agreeable, 
safe  and  speedy.  Through  cars  of  the  most  lux- 
urious pattern  run  to  all  the  desirable  resorts 
sought  by  winter  tourists,  and  the  journey 
offers  attractions  that  cannot  be  found  else- 
where. 

The  completion  of  the  Pensacola  and  At- 
lantic Railway  gives  a  through  line  from  Chi- 
cago to  Jacksonville,  Fla.,  by  way  of  New 
Orleans,  and  permits  the  tourist  to  visit  all 
of  the  popular  resorts  on  the  Gulf  coast  The 
advantages  of  this  line  to  invalids  cannot  be 
overestimated.  The  connections  for  Texas 
and  California  are  such  as  to  offer  the  best 
winter  route,  the  line  being  always  free  from 
snow  and  ice  and  cold,  and  the  fare  is  as  low 
as  by  any  other  road.  By  going  this  way  the 
traveler  has  the  opportunity  of  visiting  New 
Orleans,  Galveston,  and  other  Southern 
cities,  and  is  within  easy  reach  of  the  charm- 
ing city  of  Monterey,  tLa  most  fa- 
mous and  popular  watering  place 
in  Old  Mexico.  When  this  resort,  with  its 
magnificent  hotels  and  medicinal  hot  springs 
becomes  better  known  in  the  North,  it  will  be 
as  fashionable  a  residence  in  winter  as  Sara- 
toga is  in  summer. 

San  Antonio,  Austin.  Galyeston,  and  Hous- 
ton, Texas,  are  made  the  objective  points  for 
no  less  than  twelve  routes,  via  New  Orleans 
going,  and  via  either  the  Missouri  Pacific  or 
Iron  Mountain  routes  and  St.  Louis  return- 
ing, or  vice  versa  Havana,  Cuba,  and  Hot 
Springs  and  Eureka  Spring's,  Art ,  are  also 
excursion  points. 

Exceedingly  low  rates  are  given  on  round 
trip  tickets  to  Chicago  and  all  the  above 
points,  good  to  return  until  June  1. 

During  1883  extensive  improvements  have 
been  made  in  the  Illinois  Central  plant  The 
motive  power  has  been  substantially  in- 
creased; the  passenger  and  freight  equip- 
ments have  received  handsome  additions; 
new  double-track  iron  bridges  have  been 
placed  across  the  Calumet  and  Chicago  Elvers. 
New  passenger  and  freight  depots  have  been 
built  at  South  Chicago,  Seventy-ninth 
street,  Jeffery  avenue,  and  in  Jackson. 
Winona,  and  Wesson.  Miss.  A  double-track 
branch  to  South  Chicago,  four  and  a  half 
miles  long,  has  been  completed;  the  middle 
division  has  been  extended  from  Colfax  to 
Bloomington,  twenty  miles;  ana  spur  lines, 
aggregating  130  miles  in  length,  leading  into 
the  timber  and  farms  lands  of  Mississippi,  are 
rapidly  approaching  completion,  a  portion  of 
the  distance  being  already  open  for  traffic. 

The  Illinois  Central  was  the  first  railroad 
to  introduce  suburban  trains,  having  com- 
menced running  them  as  early  as  1856.  To 
its  management  is  due  the  development  and 
growth  of  the  beautiful  suburbs  south  of  the 
city,  as  its  frequent  trains  made  them  even 
more  accessible  than  some  of  the  resident 
portions  of  Chicago  that  are  reached  only  by 
the  street  cars.  Upward  of  three  million 
people  are  carried  annually  upon  these  sub- 
urban trains,  and  the  number  that  go  to 
South  Park  and  Pullman  sometimes  reaches 
thousands  per  day. 

THE    "MONON    ROUTE." 

THE  LOUISVILLE,  NEW  ALBANY  AND  CHICAGO 
BAILWAT  THE  GBEAT  SOUTHEBN  BOUTE. 

Scarcely  two  years  have  elapsed  since  the 
opening  of  the  Monon  Eoute— officially 
known  as  the  Louisville,  New  Albany  and 
Chicago  Bail  way — into  Chicago,  connecting- 
the  giea.t  Northwest  with  Louisville  and  the 


South  and  Southeast  Recalling  the  exorbi- 
tant rates,  slow  time,  vexatious  delays,  and 
numerous  changes  in  dingy  coaches  that  at- 
tended a  trip  to  Louisville  and  the  South  of 
a  few  years  ago,  the  business  man  and  tour- 
ist alike  appreciated  the  advantages  of  the 
Monon  Route,  with  its  solid  trains  and  Pull- 
mas  palace  sleepers,  its  reasonable  rates,  its 
fast  time,  its  smooth  tracks,  and  its  cour- 
teous officials.  Being  the  only  line  to 
Louisville  from  Chicago  under  one  manage- 
ment, it  offered  to  its  patrons  accomodations 
that  no  other  line  could  and  gained  the  good- 
will of  the  public  at  the  start  by  its  low  and 
reasonable  rates.  Gaining  friends  daily  by 
service  and  splendid  equipment,  supple- 
mented by  fair  dealing,  the  Monon  Route  to- 
day is  one  of  the  most  popular  lines,  both 
with  the  tourist  whose  journey  South  is  at- 
tended with  every  pleasure  and  comfort 
Eossible,  and  the  merchant  who  finds  that 
y  this  road  only  can  h«  ship  his 
wares  to  the  Ohio  River  without  change 
or  delay.  The  traveling  man.  knowing  the 

COMFOBTS     OF    A      SOLID     TBATN  AND  PULLMAM 
BUFFET   SLEEPEBS — 

and  the  finest  only  are  run  via  Monon — will 
take  no  other  line  to  Louisville.  To  the 
Monon  Route  belongs  the  credit  of 
introducing  the  first  and  only  Pullman  sleep- 
ing-car line  through  from  Chicago  to  Jack- 
sonville without  change,  and  is  still  the  only 
route  by  which  Pullman  car  service  is  se- 
cured via  Louisville  to  Florida.  The  route  is 
characteristically  a  tourist  line,  leading  from 
the  South  to  the  cool  resorts  of  the  Northwest 
in  summer,  and  from  the  chilly  blasts 
of  the  North  to  the  balmy  breezes 
of  a  mild  South  in  winter.  The 
time  was,  and  not  two  years  ago, 
when  a  trip  from  Chicago  to  Florida  or  the 
Gulf  resorts  was  a  slow  and  tedious  under- 
taking, attended  by  so  many  annoyances  tfiat 
few  had  the  courage  to  make  it. 
Now,  thanks  to  the  Monon  Route,  a 
trip  to  Southern  resorts  is  a  pleasure  in 
itself.  It  is  a  specialty  with  the  route,  whose 
line  of  single  and  round- trip  tickets  includes 
every  resort  in  the  South  or  Northwest. 
Their  system  of  through  checking  is  perfect, 
the  baggage  going  on  the  same  train  with 
passengers  to  destination.  The  main  line  of 
the  Louisville,  New  Albany  and  Chicago  Rail- 
way extends  from  Louisville  to  Michigan 
City,  adistance  of  288  miles,  passing  through 
some  of  the  oldest  settled  and 

MOST  PBOSPEBOUS  POBTIONS  OF  INDIANA, 

among  the  towns  being  noted  Salem.  Orleans, 
Mitchell,  Bedford,  Bloomington,  Gosport, 
Greencastle,  Crawfordsvilie,  and  La- 
fayette. The  scenery  along  the  route  is 
pleasing  and  interesting,  soothing  with  its 
constant  and  easy  changes  rather  than 
startling  with  its  suddenness  and  abrupt- 
ness. In  the  midst  of  the  hills  about  Or- 
leans are  found  several  delightful  springs, 
notably  West  Baden  and  French  Lick 
Springs,  which,  on  account  of  the  curative 
waters,  picturesque  location,  and  fine  hotels, 
have  become  popular  resorts.  The  Air  Line 
Division  of  the  road  extends  from  Chicago  to 
Indianapolis,  and  is  eleven  miles  shorter 
than  any  other  to  the  Hoosier  capital,  the 
distance' from  Chicago  being- 183  miles.  The 
Monon  Route  proper  is  via  the  Air  Line  to 
Monon  and  thence  to  Louisville,  the  through 


68 


CHICAGO'S  FIEST  HATVF  CENTURY. 


trains  running  that  way.  Similar  trains 
with 

THROUGH  COACHES  FOB  LOUISVILLE 

run  from  Michig-an  City  to  Indianapolis  via 
Monon.  The  Air  Line  was  not  formally 
opened  from  Chicago  to  Indianapolis  till  last 
October,  when  two  daily  trains  were  put  on.  Six 
weeks  later  an  arrangement  was  made  with 
the  Cincinnati,  Hamilton  and  Dayton  Eailroad 
and  the  Air  Line  trains  now  run  solid  to  Cin- 
cinnati through  Indianapolis.  Like  the  Louis- 
ville line,  parlor  cars  are  attached  to  the  day 
trains  and  Pullman  palace  sleepers  to  the 
night  trains.  Monon,  where  the  main 
and  Air  .Lines  cross,  is  eighty- 
five  miles  from  Chicago.  The  name 
is  derived  from  "Melamonon,"  an  Indian  title 
of  a  stream  near  by,  which  in  olden  times 
was  no  doubt  a  swift-running  river,  as  the 
meaning  of  the  word  is  "waters  running 
swift."  Very  properly  the  word  Monon  was 
adopted  for  the  route,  and  it  is  a 

SWIFT-RUNNING  ROUTE. 

By  the  opening  of  this  Cincinnati  line,  the 
Monon  Route  now  offers  its  patrons  a  choice 
of  routes  to  Florida  and  the  South  via  Louis- 
ville, Cincinnati,  or  Indianapolis,  direct  con- 
nections being  made  with  all  through  routes 
below  the  Ohio  Eiyer.  Briefly,  there  is  not  a 
point  of  interest  in  the  South  or  Southeast 
which  cannot  b«  reached  by  the  Monon  Route, 
and  only  by  that  route  can  passengers 
get  Pullman  car  service  via  Louisville  or 
Cincinnati. 

The  general  offices  of  the  company  are  at 
Louisville,  the  "Capital  of  Hospitality,"  as 
designated  by  a  well-known  writer.  It  is  not 
surprising  then  that  this  company  should 
display  the  same  liberal  spirit  in  its  manage- 
ment, and  that  it  should  win  popularity 
thereby.  Colonel  E.  B.  Stahlman,  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  company,  has,  by  his  rare  execu- 
tive ability  as  Traffic  Manger,  been  a  valua- 
ble aid  to  Colonel  Bennett  H  Young,  the 
President  and  General  Manager.  Ac  the  head 
of  the  passenger  department,  Mr.  Murray 
Keller  has  won  a  national  reputation  as  a  suc- 
cessful General  Passenger  and  Ticket  Agent 
In  fact,  the 

POPULARITY  OF   THE   MONON  EOUTE 

may,  in  a  large  measure,  be  attributed  to 
him.  Colonel  Sidney  B.  Jones,  the  Gen- 
eral Traveling  Passenger  Agent,  whose 
headquarters  are  in  Chicago,  is  a 
thoroughly  experienced  railroad  man  and  a 
perfect  gentleman.  His  assistant,  Captain  J. 
L.  Whelan,  is  a  graduate  from  THE  INTER 
OCEAN  reportorial  ranks,  and  as  Northwest- 
ern Passenger  Agent  maintains  his  reputa- 
tion. Mr.  E.  O.  McCormick.  City  Ticket 
Agent,  122  Randolph  street,  has  the 
routes  and  rates  at  his  fingers'  ends, 
and,  like  the  others,  has  a  store 
of  information  of  the  South  which 
he  distributes  freely.  For  maps,  time-tables, 
books  on  Florida  and  the  South  call  on  or  ad- 
dress any  of  the  above  at  122  Randolph 
street  and  receive  that  prompt  attention  for 
which  the  Monon  Route  is  noted.  No  other 
route  makes  such  time,  and  offers  such  rates 
and  accommodations  as  the  Monon  Route  to 
the  South. 

CHICAGO,  BURLINGTON  AND  QUINCY. 

STRETCHING   OVER   THE   GREAT   WEST. 

Like  all  large  Western  institutions  of  mag- 
nitude, the  extensive  railroad  system  known 
as  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Road 
had  a  small  beginning,  but  grew  with,  or 
more  properly  caused  to  grow  with  it,  the 


We.st  Its  origin  is  found  in  two  roads,  now 
considered  small  by  comparison,  but  at  the 
time  their  charters  were  granted  then  re- 
garded as  vast  and  important 

On  Feb.  12,  1849,  a  railroad  company  was 
organized  in  Illinois  under  the  name  of  the 
Aurora  Branch  Railway  Company.  In  June, 
1852,  the  Chicago  and  Aurora  Railroad  Com- 
pany obtained  its  charter  and  immediately 
proceeded  to  lay  its  track  be- 
tween Chicago  and  Aurora.  The  Cen- 
tral Military  Tract  Railroad  Company 
owned  the  road  between  Mendota  and  Gales- 
burg,  and  in  1856,  just  after  the  Chicago 
and  Aurora  Company  had  completed  its  line 
of  track,  these  two  roads  consolidated.  The 
company  thus  formed  adopted  the  name  of 
the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad 
Company. 

From  this  grew  the  road  which  covers  so 
extensive  an  area.  Small  at  the  start,  it  now 
runs  and  controls  over  4,000  miles  of  track 
distributed  throughout  Illinois,  Iowa,  Mis- 
souri, Nebraska,  Kansas,  and  Colorado. 
About  one-half  of  this  mileage  is  in  Illinois 
and  Iowa.  It  is  happy  in  the  possession  of 
five  routes.  The  most  important  is  its 
own  through  line  via  Pacific  Junction  and 
Plattsmouth  to  Denver.  The  other  routes 
are:  Through  Omaha  via  Cheyenne,  over  the 
Union  Pacific;  through  Quincy,  to  Kansas 
City  or  Atchison,  via  the  Hannibal  and  St 
Joe,  thence  resuming  the  Burlington  route 
proper;  through  Kansas  City,  via  Topeka, 
over  the  Union  Pacific,  and  through  either 
Atchison  or  Kansas  City,  via  the  Atchison, 
Topeka  and  Santa  Fe.  whose  cars  run  via 
Pueblo,  and  thence  over  the  Denver  and  Rio 
Grande. 

Passengers  have  choice  of  above  routes  in 
going  to  San  Francisco,  or  may  go  via  the 
Santa  Fe  and  Southern  Pacific  line,  or  via  El 
Paso  over  the  Gould  roads  and  the  Southern 
Pacific. 

Other  favorite  lines  of  the  Burlington  and 
connections  are  as  follows:  St  Louis,  Rock 
Island,  and  St.  Paul;  St  Louis,  Burlington, 
and  St.  Paul;  Chicago,  Freeport,  Dubuque, 
and  Sioux  City;  Chicago,  Hannibal,  and 
Texas;  Chicago  and  Des  Moines. 

The  completion  of  the  Denver  and  Rio 
Grande  Road  from  Denver  to  Ogden  during 
the  past  year  further  extends  and  makes 
more  complete  lines  of  travel  offered  by  the 
Burlington.  This  arrangement  gives  the 
Burlington  what  is  practically  its  own  line 
to  Ogden,  the  road  from  Denver  winding 
through  the  finest  scenery  of  the  West. 

The  equipment  of  the  road  is  elegant,  and 
comfort  is  combined  with  safety  and  rapid 
travel.  

CHICAGO,  ROCK   ISLAND  AND    PACIFIC. 

THE  MODEL  LINE. 

The  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific  Road, 
which  was  the  first  to  connect  Chicago  with 
the  Mississippi  River,  thus  making  more  ac- 
cessible the  thriving  cities  along  the  Fathe  r 
of  Waters,  was  begun  in  1852.  In  1847  a 
company  was  formed  under  the  name  of  the 
Rock  Island  and  LaSalle  Railroad  Company, 
and  procured  its  charter  in  the  same  year 
Good  management  has  been  characteristic 
of  the  road  since  its  opening,  and  the  alert 
managers  have  been  in  continual  readiness 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


69 


to  make  every  advantageous  extension  and 
acquisition. 

In  1851,  by  an  act  of  the  Legis- 
lature, the  name  was  changed  to  the 
Bock  Island  Company,  and  it  was  under  that 
name  that  the  road  was  constructed  be- 
tween Chicago  and  Rock  Island.  In  1866 
the  road  consolidated  with  another  in  Iowa 
called  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and  Pacific 
Road,  and  as  its  termini  and  connections 
were  such  as  to  warrant  the  managers  in 
adopting  the  name  of  the  road  with  which  it 
consolidated,  this  was  done.  It  has  been 
known  by  that  name  ever  since.  At  the  time 
the  charter  was  granted  Illinois  was  a  border 
State,  Iowa  being  a  territory,  but  since  the 
border  line  has  been  moved  further  West, 
and  the  territories  are  now  States  whose 
products  find  an  accessible  outlet  in  Coi- 
cago. 

'i'he  causes  which  produced  the  changes  of 
the  past  thirty  years  are  numerous,  but  prob- 
ably none  figures  more  prominently  than 


claimed,  will  result  in  an  increase  in  the 
already  large  suburban  travel.  The  road  is 
well  equipped  throughout,  and  by  means  of 
its  coaches,  sleeping,  and  dining  cars,  sup- 
plies all  the  comforts  known  to  travel. 

CHICAGO    AND    NORTHWESTERN. 

FOUB  GREAT  TBUNK  LINES. 

The  history  of  the  Chicago  and  Northwest- 
ern Road  is  one  of  consolidation,  and  for  the 
most  part  combined  in  that  of  the  old  Galena 
and  Chicago  Union  Road,  which  is  the  real 
pioneer  line.  The  old  Galena  and  Chicago 
Union  Road  was  chartered  in  1836.  'A  panic 
followed  in  the  footsteps  of  the  charter, 
which  delayed  further  operations  until  1847, 
eleven  years  later,  when  the  first  rail  was 
put  down.  This  was  done  on  what  is  known 
as  the  Galena  Division,  or  the  Freeport  line. 


CHICAGO  AND    ROCK   ISLAND  DEPOT. 


the  railroad  in  question,  one  of  the  pioneer 
roads  of  the  West  It  has  contributed  vastly 
to  the  development  of  both  Illinois  and  Iowa. 
Its  reward  has  been  a  world-wide  reputation 
and  bountiful  earnings.  There  is  probably 
no  railway  in  the  West  which  earns  a  greater 
revenue  in  proportion  to  its  mileage.  It  is 
the  great  central  line  from  Chicago  to  the 
West,  passing  through  the  most  fertile  por- 
tions of  Illinois  and  Iowa,  and  forming  con- 
nections which  make  it  a  through  line  to  the 
Pacific  coast.  It  reaches  the  most  thriving 
of  the  cities  in  Iowa  and  Kansas. 

A  few  years  ago  the  management,  not 
content  with  business  coming  over 
the  road  extending  to  the  West, 
opened  up  what  is  known  as  the  Albert  Lea 
Route.  This  route,  which  is  jjuite  a  favorite 
with  tourists,  and  which  does  an  extensive 
freight  business,  extends  through  the  great 
Red  Biver  Valley,  and  the  great  Northern 
Pacific  country  in  Minnesota  and  Dakota.  It 
reaches  to  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul,  and 
renders  accessible  the  beautiful  scenery  of 
Minnesota  and  the  Upper  Mississippi.  It  is 
also  used  as  a  means  of  transporting  a  large 
percentage  of  the  traffic  between  the  East 
and  Manitoba.  The  year  which  closed  yes- 
terday has  witnessed  the  beginning  of '  the 
new  Board  of  Trade  Building,  just  opposite 
the  depot  of  the  road  in  this  city,  which,  it  is 


In  1853  the  line  from  Chicago  to  Freeport,  a 
distance  of  121  miles,  was  completed,  and 
there  are  many  people  now  residing  in  Ste- 
phen son  County  who  remember  with  what 
pleasure  the  completion  of  the  line  was 
hailed,  as  previous  to  that  time  a  trip  to  Chi- 
cago and  return,  lasting  frequently  for 
two  weeks,  was  necessary  in  order 
to  dispose  of  products.  The  Illinois 
Central  Road,  which  passes  through  Free- 
port  to  Galena,  enabled  the  road  to  extend 
its  operations  to  the  lead  mines  at  Galena, 
This  road  was  absorbed  by  the  Chicago  and 
North  western  Road  in  1864. 

In  1854,  ten  years  prior  to  this  consolida- 
tion, the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Road 
constructed  the  line  which  connects  Chicago 
and  Milwaukee.  While  this  road  enters  Chi- 
cago upon  three  distinct  lines  of  rail,  it  may 
be  said  to  have  five  principal  lines  all  ter- 
minating in  Chicago,  the  first  of  which  is  the 
one  extending  to  Milwaukee.  This  line 
skirts  the  lake  shore,  and  now  reaches  the 
Michigan  peninsula. 

The  second  extends  in  a  northwesterly  di- 
rection, and  touching  Beloit,  Madison,  and 
Elroy,  reaches  St.  Paul  and  Minneap- 
olis. The  third  line  extends  west 
from  Elroy,  crosses  the  Mississippi  at 


70 


CHICAGO'S  iTJLBHT   HAUF  (JJLNTTJKI. 


Winona,  Minn.,  and  extends  across  Minne- 
sota and  Dakota  on  a  direct  line  to  the  Black 
Hills.  From  Tracy  the  road  extends  further 
on  to  Watertown  and  Redfield.  From  Huron, 
on  the  main  line,  a  branch  extends  north  up 
the  James  River  Valley  to  Columbia,  D.  T. 
The  fourth  line  runs  from  Chicago  directly 
west  across  Illinois  and  Iowa,  terminating1  at 
Council  Bluffs.  The  fifth  line  begins  at 
Tama,  142  miles  west  of  the  Missouri  Hi  ver, 
and  extends  in  a  general  northwesterly  di- 
rection to  Hawarden,  on  the  Big  Sioux  Dur- 
ing the  year  just  ended  a  bridge  has  been 
placed  over  the  river  and  the  road  extended 
into  Dakota  to  a  junction  with  the  Dakota 
Central.  In  addition  to  these  main  lines 
there  are  a  number  of  profitable  branches. 
By  connection  with  the  Chicago,  St.  Paul, 
Minneapolis  and  Omaha  Road  it  has  the  ad- 
vantage of  two  important  lines  to  Lake  Su- 
perior ports  and  tapping  the  pine  region  of 
Upper  Wisconsin.  The  mileage  of  the  North- 
western system,  including  the  Omaha  line, 
aggregates  about  5,000  milea 

ATLANTIC   AND    PACIFIC   RALLROAD. 

ALL-THE-YEAB-ABOUND    BOUTE    TO  OALIFOBinA. 

Last  September  was  opened  a  new  line  to 
California,  which  was  dubbed  the  "All-the- 
year-around"  route,  and  which,  when  travel- 
ers find  out  its  attractions,  will  have  a  popu- 
larity that  none  of  the  transcontinental 
roads  have  ever  achieved,  and  be  preferred 
to  any  other  for  many  reasons.  It  is  the  At- 
lantic and  Pacific  Railway,  which  connects 
with  the  Atchison,  Topeka  and  Santa  Fe  Road 
at  Albuquerque,  and  is  the  only  line  running 
Pullman  sleeping-cars  from  St.  Louis  and 
Kansas  City  to  San  Francisco  without  change. 

The  road  is  located  upon  the  thirty- 
fifth  parallel  of  latitude,  and  passen- 
gers thus  avoid  the  snow  blockades 
and  alkali  plains  of  the  North,  and 
Che  barren  and  duoty  desert*  of  the 


South.  It  is  and  always  will  be  the  favorite 
route  to  the  Pacific  coast  for  the  invalid,  the 
tourist,  the  sportsman,  and  all  to  whom 
speed,  comfort,  safety,  delightful  climate, 
and  wonderful  scenery  are  attractions.  It  IB 
the  shortest  and  the  best  route  to  San  Fran- 
cisco, Sacramento,  Los  Angeles,  San  Diego, 
and  other  Pacific  coast  points.  Prescott,  and 
the  mining  camps  of  Northern,  Central,  and 
Western  Arizona  are  now  reached  direct  by 
this  line  without  long  and  tedious  staging. 

The  most  remarkable  scenery  in  theworll 
is  along  the  line  ot  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
Railroad.  It  crosses  the  Colorado  River  at 
the  foot  of  the  Grand  Canon,  which  has  been 
the  subject  of  several  descriptive  letters  in 
THE  INTEB  OCEAN,  and  is  acknowledged 
to  be  the  grandest  and  most  sublime 
natural  spectacle  on  the  face  of  the  globe. 
The  canon  is  reached  by  stage  from  Leach 
Springs,  after  a  ride  of  eighteen  miles,  ard 
the  tourist  will  find  admirable  accommoda- 
tions for  his  entertainment. 

Ths  ancient  and  curious  Indian  villages  of 
Zuni,  Moquis,  Acoma,  and'Laguna  are  reached 
by  this  road,  the  trains  passing  within  a 
stone's  throw  of  the  latter  place,  which  is 
many  centuries  old,  and  inhabited  by  the  de- 
scendants of  the  Aztecs.  Remarkable  ruins 
of  the  cave  and  cliff  dwellers  are  found  near 
Flagstaff  Station,  and  possess  a  deep  interest 
not  only  to  the  scientific  world,  but  to  all 
who  visit  these  abodes  of  half-civilized 
nations  extinct  for  centuries.  The  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  is  the  most  attractive  route  to 
the  Yosemite  Valley,  and  the  big  trees  of 
Mariposa  County,  California. 

The  company  has  20,000,000  acres  of  the 
finest  grazing  land  in  the  world  for  sale,  in 
New  Mexico  and  Arizona  For  maps,  rates, 
and  other  information  apply  to  F.  W.  Smith, 
General  Superintendent;  C.  R  Williams, 
General  Freight  and  Passenger  Agent;  or  J. 
A.  Williamson,  Land  Commissioner,  Albu- 
quarque,  New  Mexico. 


CHAPTEB  VI. 


CHAMBER  OF    COMMERCE. 

A    HISTORICAL    CHAPTEB. 

THI    OLD    AND    THE    NEW    BUILDINGS. 

The  Board  of  Trade  in  Chicago  has  not  been 
a  dictator  but  a  leader;  the  business  has 
always  centered  around  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  and  right  well  has  it  deserved 
such  a  recognition.  When,  for  the  first  years 
of  its  existence,  the  board  had  its  home  down 
on  Water  street,  near  the  river,  that  was  the 
business  center  of  Chicago,  but  when  the 
First  Baptist  Church  resigned  the  corner  of 
Washington  and  LaSalle  streets  to  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  the  quiet  residence 
neighborhood  there  changed  to  the  great 
trade  center,  and  blocks  of  fine  business 
houses  went  up  there  to  accommodate  the 
great  army  of  business  men  who  wanted  to 
be  near  the  heart  of  trade,  that  they  might 
ever  feel  its  pulse  nearest  the  life  source. 

But  Chicago  did  not  always  have  a  Chamber 
of  Commerce  about  which  to  center  her 
trade.  It  was  not  until  the  spring  of  1848 
the  merchants  began  to  make  application  of 
the  old  adage  that  "in  union  there  is 
strength."  The  city  about  that  time  began 
to  be  noticed  as  a  commercial  center,  and  the 
merchants  deemed  it  for  their  common  inter- 
est to  organize  a  Board  of  Trade.  What  the 
special  object  had  in  view  was,  or  whether 
there  was  any  special  object,  does  not  appear 
from  any  of  the  records  left 

FIRST  ORGANIZATION. 

But  It  is  certain  that  in  April,  1848,  there 
was  such  a  board  organized  and  eighty-two 
members  enrolled.  These  men  represented 
the  commercial  interests  of  a  city  of  20,000 
inhabitants. 

It  was  before  the  completion  of  any  rail- 
road to  Chicago  or  the  construction  of  the 
canal,  and  the  only  means  of  communicating 
with  the  interior  and  the  West  was  by  the 
slow  stage  coach  and  the  slower  "prairie 
schooner,"  but  the  location  of  the  city  at  the 
head  of  the  great  chain  of  lakes  predestined 
it  to  be  a  trade  center. 

At  first  the  board  was  a  voluntary  organ- 
ization, bub  in  1850  it  became  incorporated 


under  a  general  law  of  the  State,  and  in  1859 
a  special  act  of  incorporation  was  obtained 
from  the  Legislature,  which  has  since  re- 
mained the  basis  of  organization. 

Its  general  object,  as  expressed  in  the  pre- 
amble to  its  Rules  and  By-laws,  are:  "To 
maintain  a  commercial  exchange;  to  pro- 
mote uniformity  in  the  customs  and  usages 
of  merchants;  to  inculcate  principles  of 
justice  and  equity  in  trade;  to  facilitate  the 
speedy  adjustment  of  business  disputes;  to 
acquire  and  disseminate  valuable  commer- 
cial and  economic  information;  and  gen- 
erally, to  secure  to  its  members  the  benefit 
of  co-operation  in  the  furtherance  of  their 
legitimate  pursuits." 

REVERSES  AND  STAGNATION. 

The  enthusiasm  which  organized  the  first 
Board  of  Trade  did  not  continue  long,  and  in 
1851  the  membership  had  dwindled  to  forty, 
and  there  was  very  little  business  transacted. 
Then  the  merchants  began  to  take  fresh  in- 
terest, and  in  1859  there  were  520  members. 
It  has  continued  to  increase  rapidly  ever 
since,  until  it  has  reached  nearly  2,000,  and 
is  there  practically  restricted. 

The  board  began  with  a  member's  fee  of 
$5,  but  a  membership  ticket  is  now  held  at 
,  $10,000.  This  is  not  regarded  as  the  real 
value,  but  is  the  price  put  upon  new  mem- 
berships as  a  restriction  upon  further  in- 
crease. Membership  tickets  already  held  are 
only  valued  at  about  one-third  that  amount, 
or  $3,500,  and  are  frequently  sold  for  that 
figure. 

In  its  early  days  the  board  was  migratory, 
changing  its  quarters  as  the  city  changed. 
Its  first  home  was  a  room  in  the  third  story 
of  a  building  at  the  foot  of  LaSalle  street 
No  elevator  carried  the  merchants  and  com- 
mission man  up  to  this  room,  and  they  were 
obliged  to  climb  two  narrow  and  steep  stair- 
ways. In  1860  a  building  was  erected  for 
the  use  of  the  board  on  Fifth  avenue,  near 
the  bridge,  but  the  business  so  rapidly  in- 
creased that  in  1863  the  question  of  enlarged 
accommodations  again  began  to  be  discussed, 
and  in  February,  1864,  a  building  association 
was  organized,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $500,- 
000,  and  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  char- 
tered. 

The  Board  of  Trade  contracted  to  lease  the 
building  for  a  term  of  ninety-nine  years,  at  a 
rental  of  $20,000  per  annum,  and  in  less  than 
twenty  years  they  have  abandoned  the  build- 
ing and  site  for  want  of  room. 

THE  BOARD  IN  THE  FIRE. 

The  new  building  was  first  occupied  in 
August,  1865,  the  membership  at  that  time 
being  over  1,400.  At  that  time  the  Chamber 


THE  NEW  CHAMBER  OF 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


73 


of  Commerce*  was  by  far  the  largest  and 
finest  building1  in  the  country  used  for  that 
purpose. 

In  1871  this  temple  of  trade  was  swept 
away  by  the  fire,  but  before  the  great  con- 
flagration had  been  checked  in  its  course  the 
members  who  nad  lost  all  came  together  and 
out  of  nothing  began  to  do  business  again. 
A  room  on  Franklin  street  was  secured  and 
the  Board  of  Trade  there  opened,  not  for 
speculation,  but  for  the  noble  purpose  of  aid- 
ing" those  who  were  only  less  fortunate  than 
themselves  in  losing  their  courage.  When 
the  help  from  all  over  the  country  began  to 
come  in,  the  board  took  possession  and  dis- 
tributed these  things  as  they  were  most 
needed.  Then  they  turned  their  attention  to 
business,  and  from  Oct.  9,  the  day  of  the  tire, 
to  Oct.  31  the  receipts  of  grain*  aggregated 
over  3,750.000  bushels,  notwithstanding  the 
ability  to  care  for  such  a  business  had  been 
greatly  impaired. 

Among  the  first  official  acts  of  the  board 
was  the  determination  to  reoccupy  its  old 
quarters,  and  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  was 
rebuilt,  but  in  more  magnificent  style,  and  in 
just  one  year,  Oct.  9,  1872.  was  re-opened. 

Until  now  this  beautiful  and  substantial 
building  has  served  as  a  home  for  the  organ- 
ization, and  trades  aggregating  millions  have 
been  made  there  every  day. 

In  Exchange  Hall  have  been  witnessed 
some  of  the  wildest  scenes  that  ever  tran- 
spired in  the  commercial  world,  and  fortunes 
have  been  made  and  lost  in  a  few  hours. 

THE  NEW  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE. 

But  for  several  years  there  has  been  a  need 
for  more  commodious  quarters,  and  another 
removal  was  arranged.  The  corner-stone  of 
the  new  Chamber  of  Commerce  was  laid  with 
appropriate  ceremonies  Dec.  13.  1882,  and 
since  then  the  walls  of  the  magnificent  build- 
ing have  gone  up  with  marvelous  rapidity, 
but  this  new  temple  of  trade  is  on  such  a 
grand  scale  that  it  will  be  another  year  be- 
fore it  is  brought  to  completion  and  ready 
for  the  machinery  of  commerce. 

The  new  building,  of  which  a  cut  is  here 
given,  fronts  on  Jackson  street  and  extends 
back  to  Van  Buren,  occupying  the  full  width 
of  the  block  between  Sherman  street  and 
Pacific  avenue.  It  will  have  a  frontage  of 
175  feet  and  225  feet  in  depth.  It  is  in  the 
modern  Gothic  style,  built  of  Fox  Island 
granite.  The  grand  tower  is  32  feet  front, 
and  is  to  be  300  feet  high,  the  masonry  ex- 
tending 225  feet  and  toe  remaining  75  feet 
of  iron.  At  the  height  of  225  feet  there  will 
be  a  clock  dial  on  each  of  the  four  sides  of  the 
tower,  twelve  feet  in  diameter. 

A  MAGNIFICENT   TEMPLE. 

All  the  external  entrances  to  the  building 
will  have  large  prominent  doors,  finished 
with  polished  red  granite  square  columns. 
The  external  ornamentation  is  to  be  on  a 
scale  never  before  equaled  in  the  city,  and 
this  will  be  one  of  the  finest  buildings  used 
for  commercial  purposes  in  the  world,  cost- 
ng$  1,500. 000. 

One  of  the  brightest  pages  in  the  history  of 
the  Board  of  Trade  was  the  unwavering 
support  it  gave  the  country  in  the  hour  of 
its  greatest  need.  The  echo  of  the  first  gun 
awoke  the  loyal  sons  of  the  Board  of  Trade, 
and  they  rallied  for  the  defense.  Grain  and 
pork  and  beef  and  stocks  were  forgotten  for 
the  flag,  and  the  "boys  on  'Change"  showed 
that  they  could  fight  with  the  same  enthusi- 
asm and  with  the  same  recklessness  that 
they  could  buy  on  the  market. 

Three  regiments  of  infantry  and  a  battery 


of  artillery  were  organized  and  equipped  by 
the  Board  of  Trade,  who  kept  watch  over 
them  during  their  service  of  three  years. 
They  were  allowed  to  want  for  nothing  that 
money  could  buy.  The  board  also  raised 
$150,000  to  help  on  the  cause  of  the  Union. 
Secretary  Randolph,  in  speaking  of  the 
board,  with  which  he  has  been  connected  in 
an  official  capacity  for  so  many  years,  says: 
"That  the  men  composing  this 'body  are,  in 
general,  possessed  of  unusual  business 
ability,  are  remarkable  for  their  quick  per- 
ception of  business  possibilities,  and  are  of 
untirinir  devotion  to  business  affairs,  will 
perhaps  be  freely  conceded  by  all  acquainted 
with  tfteir  habits  and  modes  of  conducting 
those  affairs ;  the  best  indications  of  their 
true  manhood,  however,  are  to  be  found  in 
their  generous  treatment  of  the  unfortunate, 
whether  of  their  own  numbers  or  of  dis- 
tressed humanity  throughout  the  world." 

TRANSACTIONS  IN  THE  MILLIONS. 

As  an  estimate  of  the  business  done  on  the 
Board  of  Trade,  it  may  be  noted  tnat  the 
clearings  alone  amount  to  more  than  $2,- 
000.000  a  week.  As  this  is  but  a  small  per 
cent  of  the  transactions,  the  actual  business 
of  the  board  amounts  to  millions  of  dollars 
every  day. 

Last  year  there  was  shipped  from  Chicago 
$90,388,000  worth  of  flour  and  grain,  $100,- 
939,000  worth  of  live  stock,  $117,592,000 
worth  of  meats,  lard,  tallow,  and  dressed 
hogs.$l  1. 1 14,000  worth  of  butter  and  cheese, 
$24,778,000  worth  of  wool  and  hides,  $9,- 
358,000  worth  of  seeds  and  broom  corn, 
$2,451,000  worth  of  distilled  spirits,  not  in- 
cluding the  tax,  and  $9,924,000  worth  of 
miscellaneous  products,  making1  a  grand 
total  of  $372,544,000  worth  of  products  from 
this  market,  and  all  passed  through  the  hands 
of  these  merchants  and  commission  men  on 
the  Board  of  Trade. 

But  this  does  not  begin  to  give  an  estimate 
of  the  business  transactions  which  take  place 
there.  The  wheat,  corn,  and  other  products 
are  often  sold  and  resold  a  dozen  times  in  one 
day,  and  not  only  is  business  done  by  the 
2,000  men  on  the  floor,  but  many  of  them 
are  acting  as  agents  for  men  throughout  the 
whole  country.  There  is  no  place  in  the 
world  where  so  much  of  this  kind  of  business 
is  done,  and  Chicago  by  right  is  called  the 
trade  center. 

li.  EVEK1NGHAM  &  CO. 

COMMISSION  MERCHANT& 

There  are  few  commission  houses  whose 
business  career  has  been  so  uniformly  suc- 
cessful and  who  are  so  well  known  for  their 
financial  strength  and  reliability  as  to  be 
representative  houses,  and  among  those  who 
take  the  front  rank  in  this  regard  is  the 
house  of  L.  Everingham  &  Co.,  whose  offices, 
125  LaSalle  street,  adjoin  the  Board  of  Trade. 

This  firm  point  witn  pride  to  a  record  for 
upright  and  honorable  dealing,  from  the 
establishment  of  the  firm  in  1805  to  the 
present  tune,  and  their  fidelity  to  tnose  who 
have  intrusted  business  to  them  has  resulted 
in  a  constantly  increasing  volume  of  busi- 
ness. 

From  the  first  they  pledged  themselves 
to  the  prosecution  of  a  strict  and  legitimate 
commission  business,  having  no  joint  a<- 
counts,  an- 1  engaging  in  no  speculations  for 
their  own  account,  hence  their  judgmeut  has 
been  unbiased  by  investments 'of  their  own, 
and  their  large  list  of  successful  customers 


74 


CHICAGO'S  FIEST  HALF  CENTUEY. 


are  always  sure  of  their  undivided  attention 
and  personal  interest. 

Their  facilities  for  obtaining  the  latest  and 
most  accurate  reports  of  the  crops  of  the 
country  are  unequaled,  which,  together  with 
their  special  letters  indicating  the  course  of 
the  markets,  have  proved  to  be  correct  in 
numberless  cases. 

Their  order  department  is  complete  in  all 
of  its  details,  and  is  kept  separate  and  dis- 
tinct from  the  receiving  department. 

The  execution  of  orders  for  the  purchase 
and  sale  of  grain  and  provisions  on  the  Chi- 
cago Board  of  Trade  for  future  delivery,  on 
margins,  is  a  specialty,  and  the  promptness 
and  faithful  manner  with  which  such  orders 
are  filled  is  most  gratifying  and  satisfactory 
to  their  customers. 

The  selling  of  consignments  by  sample  in 
also  a  speciality,  and  all  items  of  expense  in 
the  sale  and  delivery  of  shipments  and  tne 
weight  and  inspection  of  grain  are  carefully 
supervised,  and  the  interests  of  the  shipper 
are  thus  protected  in  every  possible  way. 
Their  carefully  prepared  special  letters  as  to 
what  quality  and  kind  of  grain  will  strike  a 
good  market  are  greatly  appreciated,  and  are 
highly  valued  by  those  who  consign  their 
shipments  to  them. 

Their  remarkably  correct  crop  reports  and 
their  special  letters  regarding  the  course  of 
the  markets,  are  freely  furnished  upon  re- 
quest 

WrLUAM  C.  DUEIX  &  CO. 

YOUNG  BUT    ENTERPBISrXG. 

While  one  of  the  young  firms  on  the  Board 
of  Trade  Messrs.  Duell  &  Co.  have  from  the 
commencement  of  their  business  career  oc- 
cupied a  prominent  position  among  Chicago 
commission  men,  and  have  earned  a  reputa- 
tion for  enterprise,  sound  judgment,  and 
financial  skill  of  which  many  old-established 
concerns  might  feel  proud. 

It  is  by  no  means  uncommon  in  this  city  to 
find  men  under  30  successfully  managing 
large  and  important  mercantile  or  manufac- 
turing interests.  The  young  man  who  pos- 
sesses industry,  tact,  and  determination,  to- 
gether with  integrity  and  correct  personal 
habits,  may,  with  a  fair  show  of  good  luck, 
pass  rapidly  to  the  front  in  this  metrropolis 
of  the  Northwest,  without  as  a 
rule  incurring  the  ill  will  or  envy  of  less  fort- 
unate men  who  have  been  longer  in  gaining 
the  goal  of  their  ambition.  But  while  the 
truth  of  the  foregoing  remarks  is  fre- 
quently proved  by  the  rapid  preferment  of 
the  young  men  of  exeeptionably  good  ability 
who  naturally  gravitate  to  Chicago,  where 
that  class  are  always  in  demand,  the  success 
of  Mr.  W.  C.  Duell  has  been  so  pronounced  as 
to  be  justly  regarded  as  phenomenal  since  he 
came  here  at  18  years  of  age  in  1875  to 
make  his  way  and  acquire  a  fortune  with- 
out the  accessories  of  influence  or 
capital  to  assist  him.  He  had,  to 
be  sure,  the  advantages  of  a  lib- 
eral education,  and  upon  arriving  in 
Chicago  was  so  fortunate  as  to  secure  a  po- 
sition with  one  of  the  largest  receiving  firms 
on  the  Board  of  Trade.  In  that  employ  he 
mastered  the  details  of  the  business  to 
which  he  has  subsequently  devoted  his  ener- 
gies with  sach  nattering  results,  and  when 
he  started  on  his  own  account  about  three 
years  ago,  he  not  only  carried  with  him  the 
good  wishes  of  his  whilom  employers 
and  other  leading  commission  firms  with 
which  he  had  been  brought  in  contact,  but 


the  generous  prediction  that  he  was  enter- 
ing upon  an  eminently  successful  career. 
The  prediction  has  been  more  than  verified; 
the  young  house  not  only  immediately  took 
a  leading  place,  but  has  sus- 
tained it  through  all  the  vicissitudes 
of  temporary  business  depression  "corners," 
etc.  i  Mr.  Duell  is  now  less  than  27 
years  old,  and  at  the  head  of  a  firm  doing  a 
large  and  constantly  extending  business — a 
firm  which  from  present  indications  will 
have  few  rivals  to  fear  in  the  future.  He  is 
a  pleasant,  unassuming  gentleman  in  his 
office,  keen,  incisive,  self-relient,  and  prompt 
to  act  when  on  'Change.  Mr.  Duell  is  a 
member  of  the  regular  Board  of  Trade,  the 
Open  Board,  the  Call  Board,  and  of  the 
Stock  Exchange,  in  all  of  which  he  is  a  con- 
spicuous figure,  and  has  abundantly  proven 
his  ability  to  hold  his  own.  His  specialty 
is  deals  for  future  delivery,  and  it  i«  not  ad- 
vidious  to  say  that  no  member  of  tha  Board 
of  Trade  more  entirely  comprehends  the 
market  and  how  to  take  advantage  of  it. 
The  firm  does  business  at  No.  22  Chamber  of 
Commerce. 

A    REPRESENTATIVE    HOUSE. 

CHAKLES  E.    CULVEB   &   CO. 

There  are  connected  with  the  Board  of 
Trade,  as  with  the  dry  goods,  the  hardware, 
and  other  interests  of  this  city,  a  few  repre- 
sentative firms,  which  appear  to  stand  as  the 
embodiment  of  whatever  is  commercially 
above  reproach,  and  as  so,  beyond  the 
shadow  ot  a  doubt,  financially,  that  the 
most  malicious  of  critics  never  attempt  to 
advertise  their  mendacity  by  attempting1  to 
malign  them.  In  the  foremost  rank  of  these 
representative  commercial  houses  of  Chicago 
the  commission  firm  of  Culver  <k  Co. 
is  honorably  conspicuous.  It  has 
for  years  been  known  as  one  of  the  largest 
and  strongest  receiving  firms  in  connection 
with  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade.  In  all  the 
history  of  the  house  there  has  been  neither 
blot  nor  blemish  to  detract  from  its  mercan- 
tile fair  fame.  It  is  one  of  the  firms  of  which 
that  great,  far-reaching,  and  powerlul  cor- 
poration above  referred  to  is  with  reason 
proud,  and  it  has  not  been  chary  of  the  com- 
mercial honors  which  it  has  conferred 
upon  it  Mr.  Charles  E.  Culver,  the 
head  of  the  firm,  has  been  twice  elected 
Vice  President  and  once  President 
of  the  Board  of  Trad*,  and  has.  moreover, 
been  for  years  in  continual  service  upon 
some  of  the  leading  committees  of  this  the 
most  important  commercial  combination  in 
the  civilized  world.  After  saying  so  much,  it 
is  the  next  thing  to  superfluous  to  add  that 
this  model  house  possesses  not  only  every- 
thing which  a  Board  of  Trade  commission 
firm  should  possess  in  the  way  of  business 
facilities,  but  a  subtile  knowledge  of  the 
inner  mysteries  of  the  speculative  market 
which  could  only  be  born  of  a 
long  experience  and  an  acknowledged 
leadership  among  the  wonderful  manipu- 
lators of  prices  who  congregate  at  the  un- 
pretending granite  building  at  the  corner  of 
LiiSaiie  and  Washington  streets,  and  deter- 
mine the  price  at  which  the  inhabitants  of 
New  York,  London,  Paris,  and  Berlin  shall 
purchase  the  material  for  their  dinners.  Any 
business  intrusted  to  Messrs.  Culver  &  Co. 
will  most  emphatically  be  left  in  sate,  com 


CHICAGO'S  FISST  WAT,*  OKNTUKI. 


75 


potent,  and  honorable  hands.  Their  place  of 
business  is  at  Nos.  122  and  124  Washington 
street 

EDWARD.  A.  DRIVER  &  CO, 

OP  HIGH  BEPUTATION. 

Among  the  Board  of  Trade  firms  which 
have  gained  an  exceptionally  high  reputation 
for  business  sagacity,  honorable  dealing, 
and,  better  than  all,  success,  Messrs.  Edward 
A.  Driver  &  Co.  hold  a  leading  and  influential 
position.  The  house  was  founded  in  1869 
by  Mr.  Spear,  the  father  of  its  present  junior 
member,  and  Mr.  E.  A.  Driver,  and  almost 
immediately  secured  in  the  estimation  of 
commission  men  and  the  speculating  public 
in  general  that  high  character  which  usually 
only  comes  as  the  reward  of  long 
years  of  patient  toil.  This  character  it 
has  ever  since  sustained,  and  is  not  at  all 
likely  to  forfeit  it  hereafter.  The  firm  does 
an  extensive  regular  commission  business  in 
grain  and  provisions,  for  the  most  part  for 
future  delivery.  Being  possessed  of  ample 
means,  abundant  experience,  and  all  the 
multifarious  and  far-reaching  facilities  which 
are  required  for  the  proper  conduct  of  the 
affairs  of  a  first-class  Chicago  commission 
house,  it  transacts  with  the  precision  of 
clock-work  its  extensive  and  rapidly  increas- 
ing business.  Messrs.  Driver  &  Co. 's  cus- 
tomers are  principally  in  the  representative 
cities  of  the  country — New  York,  Philadel- 
phia, Baltimore,  Detroit,  Toledo,  St.  Louis, 
etc.  The  firm  is  composed  of  Mr.  E.  A. 
Driver,  B.  F.  Ives,  and  P.  B.  Spear.  All  are 
natives  of  Massachusetts,  and  thorough  busi- 
ness men.  Their  place  of  business  is  room 
2,  No.  157  Washington  street 

T.  M.  BAXTER  &  CO. 

COMMISSIONS. 

So  great  and  varied  are  the  commercial  in- 
terests of  a  metropolis  like  Chicago  that  it 
would  be  impossible  to  classify  them  all  in 
an  annual  trade  review.  Only  a  few  of  the 
representative  houses  of  each  particular 
branch  of  trade  can  be  mentioned  in  the  space 
allotted.  Banking  first  in  importance  may 
be  considered  the  grain  and  provision  trade, 
in  which  some  of  Chicago's  heaviest  capi- 
talists and  business  men  are  interested. 
Among  the  firms  holding  a  high  position  in 
this  line  is  the  enterprising  commission  and 
provision  house  of  T.  M  Baxter  &  Co.,  127 
LaSalle  street,  Boom  5.  Mr.  Baxter,  the 
head  of  the  firm,  is  well  known  in  commer- 
cial circles  as  the  originator  of  the  Open 
Board  of  Trade,  an  institution  which  is  fast 
becoming  a  strong  competitor  of  the  regular 
or  the  "up-stairs  board,"  as  it  is  now  termed. 
In  proposing  and  perfecting  the  plans  for 
establishing  an  Open  Board,  Mr.  Bax- 
ter met  with  bitter  opposition  from  a 
majority  of  the  members  of  the 
"big  board,"  of  which  he  is  also  a  member. 
This,  however,  did  not  deter  him  from  car- 
rying out  his  project,  claiming  as  he  did  that 
the  outside  trade  demanded  an  institution 
founded  upon  principles  less  conservative 
than  those  held  by  the  regular  board.  Some 
of  the  members  were  inclined  to  look  upon 
Mr.  Baxter's  proposition  as  a  sort  of  "Will 
'o  the  Wisp"  scheme,  as  so  many  futile  at- 
tempts had  been  made  to  organize  an  Open 
Board. 

Mr.  Baxter  was  not  to  be  discouraged     He 


knew  his  own  power,  and  proceeded  to  util- 
ize his  enterprise  and  energy,  and  the  suc- 
cess which  has  attended  the  Open  Board  is  of 
such  a  magnitude  as  he  may  well  feel  proud. 
The  growth  of  the  institution  is  without  a 
parallel  in  the  history  of  Chicago.  The 
membership  has  increased  so  rapidly  as 
to  necessitate  more  commodious  quar- 
ters than  those  now  occupied  by  the  board. 
This  question  has  already  been  acted  upon, 
so  that  the  officers  are  now  erecting  a  new 
building,  which  will,  without  doubt,  be 
ready  for  occupancy  by  the  next  year.  The 
institution  is  certainly  an  honor  to  both  the 
city  and  its  founder.  T.  M  Baxter  &  Co.,  in 
addition  to  their  immense  trade  in  futures, 
deal  largely  in  provisions  and  breadstuffs. 
The  house,  though  young  in  the  business,  has 
succeeded  in  a  remarkably  short  space  of 
time  in  making  for  itself  an  enviable  reputa- 
tion. A  few  more  years  of  success  like  that 
which  has  marked  its  efforts  in  the  one  just 
past  and  the  firm  will  be  in  a  posi- 
tion to  cope  with  the  largest  grain 
and  commission  houses  in  the  West. 
Although  much  of  this  success  is  due  to  Mr. 
Baxter's  indomitable  will  and  courage,  he 
has  held  the  position  of  President  of  the 
Open  Board  for  three  terms.  The  pluck,  en- 
ergy, and  perseverance,  which  are  the  lead- 
ing characteristics  of  this  house,  has  given 
to  it  the  high  degree  of  prominence  which  it 
now  enjoys.  It  is  a  sound  house  in  every  re- 
spect, and  a  customer  once  secured  always 
remaina 

There  is  nothing  like  success  to  make 
a  man  popular,  and  since  Mr.  Baxter  has 
proven  that  he  is  able  to  both  originate  and 
and  carry  out  a  great  scheme,  his  business 
has  increased  tenfold.  The  public  was  not 
slow  to  discover  the  fact  that  the  house  of 
T.  M  .Baxter  &  C.  was  a  safe  one  with  which 
to  make  investments. 

J.  T.  UESTER  &  CO., 

25  AND   27   OHAMBEB   OF    COMMEBCE. 

This  is  the  largest  and  best  known  stock, 
bond,  and  grain  commission  house  in  the 
West.  Mr.  John  T.  Lester,  the  head  of  the 
firm,  is  an  old  resident  of  Chicago,  and  has 
been  actively  engaged  in  the  grain  trade  here 
for  over  twenty  years.  Mr.  Samuel  W.  Aller- 
ton,  the  millionaire  farmer,  packer,  and 
banker,  is  a  special  partner  in  the  house.  The 
firm  has  always  been  noted  for  its  great  push 
and  enterprise.  They  secured  the  first  pri- 
vate telegraph  wire  ever  used  between  New 
York  and  Chicago,  a  piece  of  busi- 
ness sagacity  which  brought  them  an 
enormous  Wall  street  clientage  Other 
houses  afterward  followed  in  Lester  &  Co.  's 
footsteps,  and  secured  direct  telegraph  con- 
nection with  New  York,  until  now  no  house 
of  any  consequence  pretends  to  do  business 
between  the  two  great  speculative  centers 
without  the  facility  of  a  private  wire.  Lester 
&  Co.  have  always  kept  the  lead  they  first 
gained,  however.  Their  first  wire  ran  along 
the  Lake  Shore  and  New  York  Central  Koads, 
but  finding  that  lake  storms  sometimes  in- 
terfered with  its  proper  working,  the  ener- 
getic firm  promptly  leased  another  private 
wire  to  New  York  from  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 
Telegraph  Company,  at  the  same  time  retain- 
ing the  original  wire,  thereby  insuring: 
prompt  connection  with  Wall  street  at  all 
times.  Of  course,  all  this  involved  a  very 
large  expense,  yet  for  every  dollar  expended 


76 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


ten  came  in.  The  house  has  been  correct  on 
the  markets  during-  the  past  year,  and  gentle- 
men who  have  placed  their  business  with 
them  are  well  pleased.  We  have  no  hesitancy 
whatever  in  recommending1  J.  T.  Lester  & 
Co.  to  our  readers  as  enterprising1,  reliable, 
safe,  and  conservative  brokers.  The  New 
York  connections  of  the  firm  are  of  the  best. 

CHANDLER,  BROWN  CO., 

COMMISSION   MERCHANTS, 

177  LaSalle  street,  who  are  among  our 
largest  receivers,  and  also  do  an 
extensive  order  business  in  grain,  seeds, 
and  provisions,  are  too  well  and  favor- 
ably known  to  the  trade  to  need  any  intro 
duction  at  our  hands  in  this  review  of  the 
Chicago  Board  of  Trade,  having  beeiiestab- 
lished  in  1863,  since  which  they  have  con- 
tinued to  do  a  prosperous  business,  which  is 
rapidly  growing  in  volume.  They  still  have 
a  house  in  Milwaukee,  where  they  started  in 
the  business. 

We  desire  to  say  of  Mr.  J.  A.  Brown,  who  is 
in  charge  of  the  business  here,  and  with 
whom  we  are  personally  acquainted,  that  he 
is  thoroughly  a  business  gentleman,  havinu:  a 
high  regard  for  honor,  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  business,  energetic,  and  reliable — one 
of  those  to  whom  Chicago  is  indebted  for  the 
push  and  enterprise  which  has  transformed 
it  from  a  country  village  into  the  magnificent 
metropolis  which  it  is  now  acknowledged  to 
be. 

KEMPER  BROS.  &  ERMEIJCNG. 

BUTTER.   EGGS,    VEAL,    AND    POULTRY. 

One  of  our  most  successful  produce  com- 
mission houses  occupies  the  store  No.  165 


South  Water  street,  and  are  prominent  mem- 
bers of  the  Produce  Exchange.  During  the 
last  year  their  trade  has  increased  fully  35 
per  cent  and  their  list  of  customers  in  about 
the  same  ratio.  Their  specialties  are  butter, 
eggs,  veal,  and  poultry.  Under  the  supervis- 
ion of  the  proprietors  and  aided  by  ex- 
perienced ana  competent  salesmen,  and 
honest  and  square  dealing:,  the  firrn  business 
hag  been  steadilv  increasing  since  its  estab- 
lishment in  1873. 

This  firm  was  originally  known  as  Wm. 
Ermeling.  but  last  May  Messrs.  Kemper  Bros., 
formerly  associated  with  the  house,  were  ad- 
mitted as  partners,  and  we  cannot  but  admit 
that  the  influence  and  experience  of  these 
parties,  coupled  with  that  of  Mr.  Ermeling's, 
bespeaks  for  the  house  enterprise  and  suc- 
cess. 

RUMSEY  &  lirRT.L, 

Successors  to  Eumsey  &  Buell  and  Charles 
Bay  <fe  Co.,  108  and  110  Fifth  avenue,  is  one 
of  the  most  thoroughly  reliable  commission 
houses  in  Chicago.  It  is  one  of  the  great 
surviving  houses. 

BROSSEAU,  BOOTH  &  CO. 

This  well  known  commission  firm,  con- 
sisting of  Z.  P.  Brosseau,  and  W.  S.  Booth,  is 
located  at  No.  116  LaSalle  street.  It  rates 
first-class  in  every  respect. 

SMITH,  McCORMICK  &  CO.. 

No.  128  LaSalle  street,  is  one  of  the  best 
known  and  strongest  commission  houses  on 
the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade. 


CHAPTER   VIL 


i 


THE    BANKS_OF    CHICAGO. 

BANKINGS    IN    EARLY    DAYS. 

IT   COMMENCED    IN    1830. 

The  banking  in  Chicago  fifty  years  ago 
would  hardly  be  recognized  as  such  to-day 
and  it  was  only  the  integrity  of  the  men  who 
started  the  first  bank,  and  their  reputation 
for  absolute  honesty,  that  made  sach  an  in- 
stitution possible  in  those  days.  The  first 
currency  in  the  Northwest  consisted  of  skins 
and  furs,  it  is  said,  and  these  were  exchanged 
for  stores  at  the  trading:  posts.  There  was  no 
money,  and  but  little  need  of  it  But  in  1830 
it  is  recorded  that  Chicago  had  a  bank.  There 
came  to  Chicago  two  Scotchmen,  Patrick 
Strachan  and  W.  D.  Scott,  as  agents  of  the 
Scottish  Fur  Company.  Soon  after  them 
came  George  Smith,  another  Scotchman, 
who  succeeded  to  their  busi- 
ness, and  then  started  a  bank 
of  deposit  in  a  small  way,  under  the  firm 
name  of  George  Smith  &  Co.  The  Wisconsin 
Marine  and  Fire  Insurance  Company,  at  Mil- 
waukee, was  succeeded  by  the  Marine  Bank, 
with  George  Smith  and  Alexander  Mitchell  at 
the  head.  These  gentlemen  issued  certifi- 
cates of  deposit  in  the  form  of  bank  notes, 
and  these  were  put  in  circulation  and  used 
as  money. 

INTEGRITY  FOB  BACKING. 

There  was  nothing  but  the  integrity  of 
these  men  to  insure  the  payment  of  the 
certificates,  but  their  reputation  for  that  was 
so  good  that  the  notes  were  never  ques- 
tioned, and  there  was  never  a  failure  on  their 
part  to  respond  to  a  call  for  coin.  These 
certificates  were  in  circulation  for  twenty 
years,  and  were  considered  just  as  good  as 
National  bank  notes  or  greenbacks  are  now. 

But  while  this  bank  was  established  in 
good  faith  with  the  object  in  view  of  meet- 
ing a  great  want  in  the  country, 
it  was  in  a  measure  responsi- 
ble for  a  very  danererous  system 
of  banking  in  the  West.  The  success  of 
Smith  and  Mitchell  encouraged  others  to  em- 
bark in  like  enterprises,  ana  banks  were 
started  in  great  number,  which  issued  cer- 
tificates of  deposit,  but  failed  to  redeem 
them.  This  wildcat  speculation  which  fol- 
lowed was  responsible  for  the  financial  em- 
barrassments of  1837. 

There  were  private  banks  where  business 
•was  conducted  in  just  as  straight orward  a 


manner  as  by  Smith  &  Mitchell,  and  among 
the  men  whose  signatures  were  good  as  gold 
in  early  Chicago  history  were  Isaac  H.  Burch, 
Alexander  Bond,  F.  G.  Adams,  and  James  M. 
Adsit. 

SETH  GKEEN'S  CHKISTIAN  BANK. 

One  of  the  characters  of  early  Chicago  was 
apseudo  banker  who  united  with  his  business 
the  work  of  preacher  and  editor.  This  was 
Seth  Green,  a  spiritualist,  who  issued  cer- 
tificates of  deposit  and  depended  upon  the 
spirits  to  inform  him  through  a  long- 
haired medium  whether  a  call  for  coin  should 
be  responded  to  and  the  certificate  redeemed. 
The  spirits  were  nearly  al  ways  averse  to  pay- 
ing when  these  calls  were  made,  unless  some- 
thing more  than  moral  suasion  was  brought 
to  bear  upon  the  banker ;  then  they  permit- 
ted him  to  pay.  Seth  edited  a  little  paper 
under  the  name  of  the  Christian  Banker,  and 
the  editorials  and  quotations  published  in 
this  were  supposed  to  be  from  the  spirit 
world.  The  Christian  Banker  and  the  Spirit- 
ualist bank  of  Seth  Green  were  of  short  du- 
ration, and  after  the  "bank"  had  been 
mobbed  several  times,  it  wound  up  business, 
and  rfeth  and  his  mediums  departed  for  parts 
unknown. 

In  1835  a  branch  of  the  State  Bank  of  Illi- 
nois was  established  in  Chicago,  of  which  W. 
H.  Brown  was  the  cashier. 

THE  PRESENT    CHICAGO   CLEARING  HOUSE. 

The  present  membership  of  the  Chicago 
Clearing  House  Association  consists  of  eleven 
National  banks,  five  State,  one  private  bank- 
ing company,  and  two  large  Canadian  banks 
that  have  branch  offices  here.  The  capital 
and  surplus  employed  by  these  institutions, 
as  returned  to  the  Clearing  House  Oct.  2, 
which  was  the  last  date  that  their  reports 
were  made  up,aggregated$18,817,000.  Their 
detailed  statements  returned  to  the  Clearing 
House  on  the  date  mentioned,compared  with 
the  same  time  in  1882,  were  as  follows: 

1883.  1882. 

No.  banks.  19.  18. 

Capital...  $13,8S6,OOO     $10,886,000 

Surplus...  4,931,000          3,279,000 

Deposits 81,078,000        82,012,012 

Loans 61,  ",<>!), OOO        48.728.955 

Banks  outside  of  the  Clearinsr  House  are 
understood  to  have  about  $11,000,000 
deposita 

The  decline  in  deposits  as  given  above  was 
due  to  the  low  average  of  country  deposits. 
The  interior  bankers  having  employment 
for  their  funds  at  home  were  borrowe'rs  in- 
stead of  creditors  of  their  city  correspondents, 
and  the  large  excess  of  loans  this  year  was 
mainly  due  to  heavy  rediscounts  for  into- 


78 


CHICAGO'S  FERST  llALF  CENTURY. 


nor  bankers.  In  addition  to  the  capital  and 
surplus  given  above,  six  banks  outside  of  the 
Clearing  House  report  an  aggregate  capital  of 
$1,735,000.  It  is  also  estimated  that  other 
private  bankers  who  decline  to  make  re- 
turns employ  a  capital  of  $1,500,000,  mak- 
ing a 

TOTAT,  AGGREGATE  BANKING  CAPITAL. 

§1,000,000  of  which  has  been  adaTecf  by 
learing  House  banks  since  their  last  report 
—of  $23,152,000. 

This,  however,  doas  not  fully  represent  the 
capital  employed  in  banking,  as  the  Cana- 
dian banks  Having  offices  here  are  at  liberty 
to  use  ten  times  the  amount  of  capital  they 
return  to  the  Clearing1  House,  the  latter 
merely  being  the  amount  with  which  they 
are  chiarged  as  fixed  capital  by  the  banks 
they  represent  • 

Within  the  year  one  National  bank  has 
opened  with  a  capital  of  $2,000,000. 

It  is  creditable  to  the  managers  of  Chicago 
banks  that  •*  failures  have  occurred  since 
1877. 

Chicago  bankers  handle  more 

foreign  exchange  than  all  other 
Western  cities  combined.  Nearly 

All  the  foreign  bills  drawn  by  millers  and 
provision  dealers  in  the  Northwest  and  West 
are  sold  here,  and  the  business  of  the  year 
just  closing  shows  a  very  material  gain  in 
this  department  of  finance.  Chicago  banks 
also  supply  the  bulk  of  the  Eastern  exchange 
made  in  the  West,  and  in  t^rn  supply  bank- 
ers in  all  other  cities,  including  Cincinnati, 
Toledo,  and  St.  Louis,  when  they  are  short  of 
Eastern  bills.  The  transactions  in  this  line 
of  banking  have  been  materially  in  excess  of 
1882,  or  any  preceding  year. 

THE  PRICE    FOE  BANKERS'  DRAFTS 

on  New  York  exchange  has  also  been  at  or 
above  par  for  a  large  portion  of  the  year. 
During  only  a  few  brief  periods  has  the  dis- 
count been  sufficiently  large  to  permit  funds 
to  be  brought  from  them  by  express.  This 
was  due.  as  above  stated,  to  the  he  heavy  de- 
mand from  other  Western  cities. 

The  miscellaneous  business  of  the  banks 
has  also  been  unusually  large,  their  discount 
lines  sho-vlng  an  expansion  commensurate 
with  other  departments,  and  no  other  branch 
of  business  has  been  so  uniformily  satisfac- 
tory to  those  conducting  it.  Every  bank 
of  consequence  has  earned  dividends, 
ranging  from  10  to  15  per  cent,  besides  ad- 
ding a  liberal  balance  to  their  surplus  on  un- 
divided profits,  and  every  institution  of 
prominence  has  found  it  necessary  to  em- 
plov  additional  clerical  force,  and  a  number 
were  compelled  to  enlarge  their  offices.  The 
clearings  for  the  year  show  an  increase  of 
$159,086,139  over  1882,  being  the  largest 
on  record,  and  $800,938,000  over  1880. 
Manager  Smith,  of  tne  bankers'  Clearing 
House,  estimates  that  the  establishment  of 
a  similar  institution 

BY  THE  BOARD   OF  TRADE 

for  the  settlement  of  balances  on  transac- 
tions on  'Change  has  lessened  the  bank  clear- 
ings at  least  $$2,500,000  per  week,  com- 
pared with  the  old  system,  as  one  check  now 
settles  a  large  number  of  trades.  Under  the 
old  system  of  settling  such  trades  half  a 
dozen  checks,  and  not  unfrequently 
twice  that  number,  were  given  for 
the  same  property.  Hence.  the 
doubling  up  process  largely  swelled  the 
clearings  at  the  banks.  It  will  therefore  be 
seen  that  the  present  bank  clearings  more 
clearly  reflect  the  volume  of  legitimate  busi- 


ness than  those  of  any    previous    year    wita 
which  comparisons  are  made. 

The  expansion  of  the  city's  commercial 
and  financial  transactions  during  the  past 
years  is  partly  reflected  by  the  report  of  the 
Chicago  Clearing  House,  furnished  by  its 
efficient  manager,  W.  S.  Smith,  Esq.,  which 
is  as  follows: 

COMPARATIVE   CLEARINGS. 

The  following  shows  the  clearings  from 
1865  to  1883,  inclusive: 

1865  (nine  months)  .............  $31  9,  606,000.  OO 

1866  ............................  453,798,648.11 

1867  ............................  580,727,331.43 

1868  ............................  723.  293,  144.  al 

1869  ..........................  734.664,949.91 

1870  ............................  810,676.036.28 

1871  ............................  868,936.754.20 

1872  ...............  .............  993.060,503.^7 

1873  ............................  1,047.027,828.33 

1874  ..................  ;  .........  1,101.347.948.41 

1875  ............................  1,212,817,207.54 

1876  ............................  i,ojo,09-_'.i;-_'i.:;7 


,,_._. 

1877  ..........................  1,044,678.475.70 

1878  ............................  967.1K4.093.07 

1879  ............................  1,257,756,124.31 

1880  ............................  1,  725,684,  894.85 

1881  ............................  2,229,097,450.60 

1882  ............................  2,366,536,855.00 

1883  ...........................  2,525,622.944.00 

STOCKS  AND  BONDS. 

The  business  in  stocks  and  bonds  for  the 
year  was  the  largest  of  any  previous  one  in 
the  West  and  is  constantly  growing.  The 
sales  of  railroad  and  miscellaneous  bonds  on 
the  Chicago  Stock  Exchange  aggregated  $9,- 
100,000,  and  in  railroad  and  other  stocks 
57,  500  shares.  There  was  also  a  large  amount 
of  bonds  handled  by  the  banks,  the  majority 
of  which  were  not  reported  to  the  Exchange, 
and  were  nearly  equal  to  that  amount. 

THE  FIRST   NATIONAL   BANK. 

THE  THIRD  IN  THE  COUNTRY. 

There  are  a  few  Chicago  institutions  of 
which  all  Chicagoans  are  pardonably  proud 
because  they  illustrate  the  marvelous 
growth  of  the  most  wonderful  city 
which  marks  the  culmination  of  the 
genius  of  the  nineteenth  century.  At  the 
present  time  this  city  is  nothing  in  the  esti- 
mation of  its  citizens  unless  it  is  the  acknowl- 
edged queen  of  the  commercial  world,  con- 
sequently no  man  or  institution  is  held  in 
much  esteem  unless  he,  or  it,  has  established 
the  right  to  a  position  in  the  front  rank. 

The  occasion  of  the  annual  review  is  au- 
spicious to  mention  the  great  banking  house, 
which  is  an  honor  to  this  city,  which  aspires 
and  has  secured  a  cosmopolitan  reputation. 
The  banking  house  is  a  concomitant  of  civ- 
ilization. The  savage  or  the  frontiersman 
has  no  need  of  it.  When  a  people  have  ad- 
vanced from  a  barter  to  a  money  basis  of 
financial  transaction,  the  banking  house  be- 
comes not  only  a  convenience,  but  a  ne- 
cessity, and  just  in  proportion  as  the 
hamlet  throws  off  the  rural  and  as- 
sumes the  city  character  the  bank 
is  transformed  from  a  little  broker's  shop 
to  the  palatial  repository  of  millions.  Two 
hundred  years  ago  Chicago  needed  no  bank, 
and  had  none  ;  twenty  years  aero  Chicago  was 
a  city,  and  required  good  banking  facilities. 
At  the  latter  date  the  First  National  Bank 
was  established,  with  a  capital  of  $300,000, 
with  E.  Aiken  as  President,  Samuel  Nicker- 
son  as  Vice  President,  E.  E.  Braisted  as 
Cashier.  In  1882  Chicago  was  a  metropolis, 


CHICAGO'S  FIBST  HALF  CENTUBY. 


and  the  First  National  Bank  was  recharted, 
with  a  capital  of  $3,000,000,  with  Samuel 
Nickerson  President,  and  Lyman  J.  Gage  as 
Cashier.  The  first  President  of  this  great 
financial  institution  held  his  office  until  his 
death,  which  occurred  in  1867,  when  he  was 
succeeded  by  the  present  incumbent  In 
1868  Mr.  Gage  assumed  the  duties  of  Cashier, 
and  has  discharged  them  ever  since  in  a 
manner  which  has  not  only  been  entirely 
satisfactory  to  the  giant  corporation  he 
serves,  but  has  made  him  a  prominent  fig- 
ure among  Chicago  financiers,  and  known  by 
name  the  world  over.  This  corporation 
moved  into  its  present  magnificent  quarters 
in  November,  1882.  The  banking  office 
proper  is  said  to  be  the  largest 
and  finest  in  the  world.  It  is 
at  all  events  as  elegant  as  variegated  murble 
and  carved  oak  can  make  it,  and  with  its 
clerical  force,  ninety-five  in  number,  all  in 
sight  and  busy  over  books  of  accounts,  or  in 
counting  piles  of  gold,  silver,  and  currency, 
it  reminds  one  irresistibly  of  some  wild  tale 
of  the  Arabian  romances.  But  with  all  this 
displav  everything  is  severely  practical.  The 
First  National  Bank  has  reason  to  feel  proud  of 
the  officers  to  whom  have  been  intrusted  its 
interests  from  first  to  last.  They  are  gentle- 
men with  whom  slander  never  meddles,  and 
who  are  never  assailed  by  the  tongue  of  re- 
proach. 

PKESTON,  KEAN  &  CO. 

LEADING    PKIVATE  BANKING  HOUSE. 

This  leading  private  banking-house  was 
established  in  1860,  and  for  three  and  twenty 
years  has  been  earning  a  reputation  for 
safely  keeping  and  judiciously  investing  the 
money  of  others  which  is  second  to  that  of 
no  financial  concern  in  the  West. 

This  firm  safely  survived  the  great  fire  and 
the  several  panics  and  periods  of  business  de- 
pression which  swept  away  so  many  con- 
cerns; and  its  record  is  such  as  to  fully  war- 
rant the  confidence  its  clients  have  always 
reposed  in  it,  and  the  belief  that  it  can  fully 
discharge  any  financial  trust  placed  in  it. 

In  their  banking  department  Messrs. 
Preston,  Kean  &  Co.  offer  as  liberal  terms  for 
the  accounts  of  bankers,  merchants,  and 
others  as  is  compatible  with  business  princi- 
ples. 

In  their  foreign  exchange  department  they 
issue  bills  on  all  tne  principal  European 
cities,  and  also  letters  of  credit  for  the  con- 
venience of  travelers.  The  house  makes 
collections  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  is 
specially  peculiar  for  its  promptness  in  this 
line  of  its  business. 

The  firm  is  probably  the  oldest  one  in  the 
West  in  the  line  of  investment  securities.  It 
was  connected  with  the  first  government 
loan  issued  for  the  prosecution  of  the  recent 
civil  war,  and  has  been  largelv  instrumental 
in  placing  every  subsequent  loan,  ana  it  is 
admirably  prepared  to  serve  the  interest  of 
investors  in  this  connection. 

The  firm  are  also  large  dealers  in  bonds 
issued  by  States,  counties,  cities,  etc. .  often 
buying  and  selling  entire  issues  of  cities  for 
municipal  purposes,  in  some  single  transac- 
tions amounting  to  several  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  dollars.  They  also  deal  in  railroad 
bonds  of  the  leading  trunk  lines. 

It  has  for  some  years,  made  a  specialty  of 


Chicagor  Car  Trusts,  which  certificates  run 
from  thee  months  to  seven  years,  draw  6  per 
cent  interest,  payable  quarterly.  By  some  of 
the  best  Illinois  lawyers  they  are  regarded  as 
being  exempt  from  taxation. 

The  certificates  are  not  only  the  direct  ob- 
ligatin  of  the  road  issuing,  but  are  also  se- 
cured by  the  rolling  stockT 

The  bank  does  not  undertake  any  specu- 
lative business. 

The  remarkable  success  with  which  this 
banking-house  has  been  attended  since  its 
inception  can  be  laid  to  no  other  source  than 
the  financial  skill  of  its  management. 

CHARLES    HENROTIN. 

PRESIDENT  OF   THE  STOCK  EXCHANGE. 

This  gentleman  has  been  so  intimately 
associated  with  the  Chicago  Stock  Exchange 
ever  since  its  organization  that  the  mention 
of  one  invariably  suggests  the  other.  Mr. 
Henrotin  is  now  serving  his  second  term  ah 
President  of  the  Stock  Exchange,  a  position 
which  he  has  filled  with  marked  ability  and 
to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  members  of 
this  important  corporation.  He  has  been 
thirty-seven  years  in  Chicago,  and  has 
always  enjoyed  a  high  reputation  and 
exceptionably  for  integrity  and  good 
business  tact.  Indeed,  Mr.  Henrotin  is 
one  of  our  best  and  shrewdest  financiers. 
He  is  a  leading  banker  and  broker,  and  as  he 
was  for  years  the  cashier  of  one  of  the  lead- 
ing banking  houses  in  the  West  it  is  almost 
unnecessary  to  add  that  he  has  had  just  the 
experience  which  fits  him  for  the  successful 
prosecution  of  the  business  in  which  he  is 
engaged — buying  and  selling  of  bonds,  stocks, 
commercial  paper,  and  safe-investment  se- 
curities. He  is  one  of  our  few  financial 
operators  who  always  has  on  hand  a  full  line 
of  choice  securities  from  which  customers 
can  select,  or,  if  they  please  to  leave  the  se- 
lection to  him,  they  will  discover  that  they 
have  confided  their  interests  to  an  honorable 
and  competent  gentleman.  Mr.  Henrotin  is 
now,  and  for  years  has  been,  the  govern- 
ment representative,  as  consul,  of  Belgium 
and  Turkey  at  this  port.  He  is  a  ripe  scholar 
as  well  as  an  accomplished  banker,  and  is  ad- 
mirably fitted  for  the  important  official  posi- 
tion he  holds. 

ITHJE   NATIONAL,   BANK   OF  ILLINOIS, 

GBANNIS  BLOCK, 

is  one  of  the  strongest  and  soundest  financial 
establishments  in  the  country.  It  has  a  paid- 
up  capital  of  $1,000,000,  and  is  probably  do- 
ing as  safe,  and,  at  the  same  time,  as  profita- 
ble a  business  as  any  bank  in  Chicago.  Its 
facilities  for  transacting  business,  domestic 
or  foreign,  are  simply  perfect,  or  as  nearly  so 
as  is  compatible  with  human  infirmities. 
The  officers  of  this  excellent  concern  are 
George  Schneider,  President;  William  H. 
Bradley,  Vice  President;  William  A.  Ham- 
mond. Cashier.  The  Board  of  Directors  em- 
brace, besides  two  of  the  gentlemen  above- 
named,  S.  B.  ©obb,  Frederick  Mahla,  Henry 
Corwith.  Ernst  Prussing,  W.  L.  Pecik,  H.  N. 
Hibbard,  B.  H.  Campbell,  George  E.  Adams, 
and  A..  A.  Munger.  The  above-named  gen- 
tlemen enjoy  a  high  reputation  in  business 
circles  east  and  west.  Mr.  George  Schneider, 
the  President  of  the  Dlinois  National  Bank,  is 
considered  one  of  the  ablest  financiers  in 


80 


CHICAGO'S  FIEST  HALF  CENTURY. 


Chicago,  and  to  his  admirable  management 
the  bank  is  largely  indebted  for  its  pro- 
nounced success. 

CONTINENTAL   NATIONAL   BANK, 

NOS.     115   AND    117  DEARBORN     STREET, 

Chicago,  was  established  on  the  5th  of  March, 
1883,  with  a  capital  of  $2,000,000,  and 
under  the  most  favorable  auspices.  This 
financial  corporation  has  been  exceptionably 
fortunate  in  securing  for  its  officers  gentle- 
men of  the  highest  standing  in  commercial 
circles,  whose  names  are  a  sufficient  guaran- 
tee as  to  the  unimpeachable  character  of  the 
institution.  The  officers  are:  C.  T.  Wheeler, 
President;  John  C.  Black,  Cashier;  Douglass 
Hoyt,  Assistant  Cashier.  The  Board  of  Di- 
rectors embrace  such  well-known  names  as 
P.  D.  Armour.  A.  G.  Van  Schaick,  Henry 
Botsford,  M.  C.  Stearns,  etc.  This  bank  will 
commence  foreign  exchange  business  Jan. 
1,  1884.  _ 

N.  W.  HARRIS  &  CO. 

THIKTEEN  MILLIONS   BEHIND   THEM. 

lhat  the  importance  of  Chicago  as  a 
financial  center  increases  steadily  is  con- 
firmed by  the  recent  establishment  here  and 
signal  success  of  these  representative  invest- 
ment bankers,  at  No.  176  Dearborn  street. 
At  their  back,  besides  personal  resources, 
is  the  long  purse  of  one  of  the  solidest  trust 
companies  of  the  East,  having  some  $13,- 
000,000  assets,  for  which  company  the  firm 
places  loans  in  Indiana  and  Illinois.  A 
feature  with  which  they  are  especially  iden- 
tified is  dealing  in  bonds  of  counties,  cities 
and  towns,  when  once  personal  visitation  and 
rigid  scrutiny  have  approved  the  legality  of 
the  proceedings  issuing  them,  and  certified 
that  they  were  strictly  for  municipal  purposes. 

Among  these  bonds  more  recently  placed 
by  the  firm  were  $100.000  of  the  Saginaw 
bonds,  $90,000  of  South  Bend,  $00,000  of 
Sioux  City,  Iowa,  $60,000  of  Commbus, 


Ohio,  $50,000  of  Moline,  111.,  $40,000  of 
Binggold  County,  Iowa,  $77,000  of  Dakota 
Territory. 

BENNETT'S   LAW   AND   COLLECTINO 

ASSOCIATION, 

130  Dearborn  street  and  99  Madison  street, 
was  established  in  1872,  and  has  probably  a 
larger  clientage  than  any  other  law  or  col- 
lecting association  in  this  city.  Horace  C. 
Bennett,  a  lawyer  of  ability  and  large  prac- 
tice and  experience,  is  the  head  of  the  law 
department,  and  THE  INTER  OCEAN,  having 
had  frequent  occasion  to  employ  Mr.  Bennett, 
bears  cheerful  witness  to  his  skill  and  integ- 
rity. He  is  also  the  Chicago  attorney  for  the 
Stationers'  Board  of  Trade,  the  Hardware 
Board  of  Trade,  and  the  Carpet  Trade  Asso- 
ciation, all  of  New  York  City. 

REXFORI>  &  PRENTICE-LAWYERS. 

GENERAL  LAW  AND  COLLECTIONS. 

This  firm  is  composed  of  Henry  L.  Eexf  ord, 
a  native  of  this  county,  and  a  son  of  Stephen 
Eexf  ord,  who  came  to  Cook  County  in  1833, 
and  David  K.  Prentice,  formerly  of  Genesee 
County,  New  York.  By  great  diligence  and 
much  hard  work  they  have  established  a  fine 
general  law  practice  and  collection  business. 
They  have  a  large  list  of  good  clients  both  at 
home  and  abroad.  A  distinguishing  feature 
in  their  collection  methods  is  the  constant 
attention  to  all  claims,  whether  small  or 
large,  believing  that  the  abandonment  by 
attorneys  of  all  small  claims  after  very  slight 
efforts  to  collect  is  not  as  effectual  a  plan  as 
should  be  adopted  by  a  well  managed  collec- 
tion house.  This  firm  refer  by  special  per- 
mission to  the  Chicago  National  Bank  and 
Lyon  &  Healy,  of  Chicago,  and  the  National 
Park  Bank  and  Steinway  &  Sons,  New  York 
City.  Their  offices  are  located  at  89  Madison 
street,  two  doors  west  of  THE  INTER  OCEAN 
office. 


CHAP  TEE    VLLL 


THE    INSURANCE    BUSINESS. 

SOMETHING    OF    ITS    HISTORY. 

THE  FIRST   AGENT. 

No  city  in  the  world  ever  gave  to  insurance 
men  such  a  painful  surprise  as  did  Chicago 
in  1871.  and  never  before  nor  since  did  the 
fire  insurance  companies  make  so  grand  a 
record  for  honesty  and  uprightness  in  busi- 
ness. The  total  loss  by  the  fire  was  es- 
timated at  $185,510,000,  and  the  fire  in- 
surance companies  had  risks  on  this  amount- 
ing to  $100,225,780,  of  which  more  than 
one-half,  or  about  $50,178,780,  was  paid. 
By  this  conflagration  sixty-eight  companies, 
having  assets  of  $24,807,109,  were  placed 
in  liquidation.  In  that  year  there  were  six- 
teen local  companies  and  twenty-eight  out- 
side companies  doing  business  in  Chicago, 
with  their  agencies  permanently  located 
here. 

The  first  insurance  agent  in  Chicago  was 
Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  who  received  his  ap- 
pointment from  the  .ZEtna  of  Hartford  in 
1834.  In  that  year  he  wrote  the  first  nolicy 
ever  issued  in"  Chicago  or  Cook  County. 

For  over  thirty  years  Mr.  Hubbard  con- 
tinued to  represent  this  and  other  companies 
in  Chicago,  and  retired  from  business  in 
1867. 

MARINE  INSURANCE. 

In  1835  the  Alton  Marine  and  Fire  Insur- 
ance Company  of  Alton,  this  State,  was 
chartered,  and  it  is  claimed  this  was  the  first 
company  chartered  by  tlie  State. 

The  second  company  to  establish  an  agency 
in  Chicago,  however,  was  the  Howard  of 
New  York,  with  E.  K  Hubbard  as  agent, 
early  in  1836.  In  January,  1856,  the  "Chi- 
cago Marine  and  Fire  Insurance  Company 
was  chartered,  and  in  1837  the  third  com- 
pany to  appoint  an  agent  for  Chicago  was 
the  Hartford,  of  Hartford,  Conn. ,  with  Julius 
Wadsworth  as  agent. 

In  1839  Chicago  had  its  first  fire  of  any 
importance,  when,  on  Oct.  27,  the  Tremont 
House,  then  standing  where  the  Commercial 
Hotel  now  stands,  and  twelve  other 
buildings  on  Lake  street,  burned.  This 
naturally  awakened  the  people  to  the  advan- 
tage of  insurance,  and  the  business  for  that 
year  increased  very  rapidly.  Chicago  had 
become  a  city,  where  one  must  be  protected 
from  fire  if  he  would  feel  safe  that  business 


of  one  day  could  be  resumed  the  next,  even 
if  the  fire  fiend  swept  away  all  the  property 
he  owned. 

BOARD   OP   UNDEBWHITEBS. 

In  1849  the  increase  of  fires  and  the  com- 
petition among  insurance  companies  led  to 
conferences  and  meetings  of  those  engaged 
in  agency  work,  and  at  a  meeting  in  New 
York  such  steps  were  taken  relative  to  the 
larger  cities  of  the  country  that  organization 
of  local  boards  began. 

The  first  mention  of  the  local  board  of 
underwriters  in  Chicago  is  of  the  date  Dec.  3, 
1849,  with  George  W.  Dale  as  President 

In  1852  fire  and  life  insurance  was  so  at- 
tractive that  the  Hon.  E.  C.  Larned  delivered 
a  lecture  on  the  subject  at  the  Chi- 
cago Commercial  College,  April  9  before 
a  large  audience  composed  ot  the  leading 
representatives  in  commerce,  banking,  and 
law,  and  a  committee  of  prominent  citizens 
deemed  this  lecture  of  such  value  to  the  com- 
munity that  they  published  it  in  pamphlet 
form  for  distribution. 

The  Chicago  Board  of  Underwriters  was 
organized  in  1856. 

The  Chicago  Fire  Insurance  Patrol  was 
organized,  and  made  its  first  appearance  Oct. 
2,  1871,  just  seven  days  before  the  great  fire, 
with  Captain  Ben  B.  Bullwinkle  at  the  head. 
After  the  fire  the  patrol  became  efficient, 
and  has  been  of  great  service  in  aiding  the 
department  and  saving  insurance. 

There  are  now  262  insurance  companies 
with  agencies  in  Chicago,  and  the  business  in 
fire  insurance  amounts  to  about  $3,000,000 
a  year,  while  the  life  and  marine  insurance 
will  add  $2,000,000  more. 

O-ENEKAL  AGENCIES. 


PLATE  GLASS  INSURANCE. 

A  MATTER  THAT  BUT  FEW  ABE  CONVERSANT  WITH 

The  business  as  carried  on  by  the  Lloyds 
Plate  Glass  Insurance  Company,  of  New 
York,  enables  parties  having  plate  glass  show- 
cases, or  valuable  mirrors  to  protect  them- 
selves against  all  accidents,  whether  broken 
by  careless  servants,  the  criminally  dis- 
posed, or  the  acts  of  Providence.  Very  few 
are  aware  of  bhe  numerous  ways  in  which 
plate  glass  is  broken.  Few  tenants  are  aware 
that  they  are  liable  to  the  owner  of  the 
dwellings  or  buildings  they  occupy  for  all 
glass  broken,  and  breakages  occur  in  nu- 
merous ways,  and  among  those  are  breakage 
by  burglars,  runaway  horses,  intoxicated 


82 


CHICAGO'S  FTR8T  HALF  CENTUEY. 


persons,  mischievous  boys,  cleaning1  win- 
dows, children  playing,  stones  thrown,  pistol 
balls,  hailstorms,  windstorms,  ladders  falling, 
shutters  falling,  sig-ns  falling,  awnings  fall- 
ing, receiving  goods,  delivering  goods, 
slamming  of  doors,  warping  of  sashes,  set- 
tling of  buildings,  lightning,  tornadoes,  ex- 
plosions, snow  slides  from  roof,  slipping  on 
sidewalk,  carelessness  of  employes,  earless- 
ness  of  expressmen,  expansion  by  heat,  con- 
traction by  cold,  goods  falling,  inside  or  out. 
The  Lloyds  Insurance  Company  saves  the 
owner  of  the  glass  not  only  money,  but 
trouble  and  delay,  for  when  a  breakage  oc- 
curs it  is  only  necessary  to  notify  the  agents 
of  the  company,  and  they  immediately  re- 
place the  broken  glass. 

ASSETS. 

United  States  Governmens  bonds $104,000 

Cash  in  bank  and  other  assets 26,000 

Total  assets $130.000 

LIABILITIES. 

Losses  in  course  of  adjustment.  ..$1,400 

All  other  liabilities 5, 600 $7,000 

Surplus  to  policy-holders.       $123,000 

George  W.  Montgomery  and  William  C.  Ma- 
gill,  composing:  the  firm  of  Geo.  W.  Mont- 
gomery &  Co.,  are  agents,  151  LaSalle  street, 
Chicago,  111.  _ 

THE  WESTERN   MANUFACTURERS 

MUTUAL  INSURANCE     COMPANY,    113,    115,  117 

MONKOE  STEEET. 

This  company  under  the  able  and  efficient 
management  of  Secretary  P.  A.  Montgomery 
has  become  one  of  those  which  can  be  relied 
upon  to  make  substantial  progress  under  all 
circumstances,  and  in  1883  has  increased  its 
net  assets  over  fifty  thousand  dollars,  be- 
sides declaring  a  12%  per  cent  dividend  to 
policy-holders.  This  exceptional  success  is 
due  to  the  nature  of  the  risks  written,  which 
consist  entirely  of  the  best  manufactories, 
widely  scattered  and  under  the  supervision 
of  skilled  inspectors,  none  of  whom  are  paid 
commissions. 

The  officers  are:  President,  the  Hon. 
Jesse  Spalding;  Vice  President,  William  H. 
Turner.  Esq. ;  Treasurer,  the  Hon.  Clinton 
Briggs;  Secretary.  P.  A.  Montgomery.  The 
business  is  purely  mutual,  and  the  member 
ship  comprises  a  majority  of  the  large  manu- 
facturing firms  of  th'e  Northwest. 

Mr.  Montgomery  is  an  underwriter  of  con- 
siderable experience,  having  been  connected 
with  the  Millers'  National  Insurance  Com- 
pany, of  this  city,  in  a  responsible  capacity 
for  several  years  previous  to  his  appoint- 
ment as  Secretary  of  the  Western  Manu- 
facturers' Mutual,  and  having  previous  to 
that  a  wide  experience  as  special  agent  and 
adjuster  for  several  leading  stock  companies. 
That  the  Western  Manufacturers'  Mutual  is 
well  handled  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact 
that  it  has  returned  during  the  past  four 
years  an  average  of  25  per  cent  of  premiums 
annually  to  its  policy-holders,  or  one  year's 
premium  out  of  every  four. 

THE  TRADERS'   INSURANCE  CO.! 

This  company  began  business  under  its  re- 
organization April,  1872,  with  a  cash  capital 
of  $500,000.  It  has  uniformly  made  money 
every  year  since,  and  has  returned  to  its 
stockholders  their  entire  outlay  and  consid- 
erable besides.  Its  gross  assets  now  reach 


$1,150.000,  with  a  surplus  as  regards  policy- 
holders  of  $860,000.  It  has  entirely  out- 
grown the  prejudice  against  local  companies, 
and,  having  a  firm  hold  on  the  public,  gained 
by  fair  and  prompt  dealing  with  all,  and  an 
extended  agency  system,  which  furnishes  a 
large  income,  the  Traders  is  justly  regarded 
one  of  the  solid,  permanent  institutions  of 
this  city.  Among  its  officers  and  directory 
are  found  names  which  are  familiar  to  all  as 
gentlemen  of  wealth  and  standing,  and  being 
located  in  the  center  of  the  great  Northwest, 
its  future  is  bright  and  promising.  We  are 
glad  to  know  that  the  company  has  had  a 
very  prosperous  year,  and  makes  a  splendid 
showirssr  in  its  annual  statement. 

R.  J.  r<mith,  the  Secretary  and  manager,  is 
well  and  favorably  known  among  underwrit- 
ers everywhere 

SUN   FIRE     OFFICE      OF     LONDON. 

ENGLAND,    ESTABLISHED     1710. 

Probably  the  whole  history  of  Insurance 
contains  no  name  more  remarkable  than 
that  of  the  Sun  Fire  Office,  which  has  just 
reached  the  great  age'of  174  vears.  It  is  pos- 
sessed of  large  accummulated  assets,  and  is 
backed  by  the  unlimitad  liability  of  its 
wealthy  shareholders,  both  of  which  are 
equally  responsible  for  all  losses  in  the  United 
States  as  in  England.  Its  advent  to  this 
country  was  cordially  received  by  all  classes 
of  insurers,  and  it  has  already  acquired  a 
leading  place  among  tne  kindred  institutions 
in  this  country. 

In  England  we  learn  that  its  business  is 
gigantic  in  its  proportions  and  of  the  highest 
order,  and  that  it  stands  among  insurance 
companies  in  a  similar  position  to  that  occu- 
pied by  the  Bank  of  England  among  the  banks. 
The  Siin  has  agencies  in  all  the  principal 
cities  of  the  United  States,  and  is  represented 
in  Chicago  by  Messrs.  H.  J.  Straight  &  Uo.,  at 
No.  150  LaSalle  street 

CREAM    OF   THE     BUSINESS. 

LIVERPOOL  AND   LONDON  AND   OLOBB. 

This  insurance  company  is  one  of  the 
largest  and  best  known  in  the  world.  The 
unlimited  liability  of  the  stockholders  is  a 
guarantee  that  has  not  escaped  the  attention 
of  any  man  who  has  property  to  insure,  and 
in  consequence,  like  a  few  other  standard 
companies,  this  one  is  able  to  select  the 
cream  of  the  business  and  decline  that  which 
is  not  gilt-edge.  The  amount  of  losses  paid 
by  the  Liverpool  and  London  and  Globe  in 
the  great  fires  at  Chicago  and  Boston  footed 
up  the  astonishing  sum  of  four  millions  and 
fire  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Remaining 
in  the  field  it  soon  reaped  a  rich  reward,  and, 
as  it  always  has  and  no  doubt  always  will, 
continued  to  grow  in  the  estimation  of  the 
public. 

No  better  illustration  of  the  Integrity  of  the 
company  can  be  offered,  in  a  local  sense, 
than  to  enumerate  the  Chicago  Board  of 
Directors:  John  Crerar,  of  Crerar.  Adams  & 
Co. ;  Levi  Z.  Leiter,  late  Field,  Leiter  &  Co. ; 
Ezra  J.  Warner,  of  Sprague,  Warner  &  Co- 
The  Chicago  office  is  in  the  Oriental  Building, 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


83 


No.  124  LaSalle  street,  and  is  in  charge  of 
Mr.  William  Warren,  Resident  Secretary. 

THE  NEW  ORLEANS  INSURANCE  CO. 

OF  NEW  OELEAN'S  LA., 

was  organized  in  1805  and  has  an  honorable 
recora  of  more  than  three-quarters  of  a  cen- 
tury, paying  millions  of  dollars  for  fire  losses 
promptly  and  honestly.  At  the  close  of  the 
late  civil  war  it  charged  off  its  books  as 
worthless  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars 
depreciated  securities,  the  result  of  war,  and 
yet  it  possesses  a  half  million  unimpaired, 
paid-up  capital,  with  a  handsome  net  surplus 
in  addition  and  above  all  liabilities  and 
capital.  It  can,  therefore,  properly  claim 
that  it  is  time -tried,  war-tested,  fire-proof, 
and  deserves  the  confidence  and  support  of 
the  insuring  public. 

Colonel  W.  W.  Caldwell  is  the  manager  of 
the  company  for  its  Northern  department, 
which  embraces  the  business  of  all  States 
north  of  and  including  Kentucky,  with  head- 
quarters at  Chicago,  111.  Agencies  will  be 
maintained  in  all  principal  cities. 

THE    FIRE    INSURANCE    ASSOCIATION, 

LIMITED,  OF  LONDON,  ENGLAND. 

This  company  has  only  been  doing  business 
in  this  country  about  three  years,  but  has 
evidently  made  rapid  strides  toward  the 
front,  as  is  manifested  by  its  premium  re- 
ceipts in  1882,  which  amounted  to  $950,000. 
The  capital  of  the  company  is  $5,000,000, 
and  they  have  about  $1,000,000  invested  in 
this  country. 

The  stockholders  and  officers  are  among 
the  most  prominent  men  in  England,  the 
present  Lord  Mayor  of  London  being  one  of 
its  directors. 

Messrs.  Fred  S.  James  &  Co.  are  the  local 
agents  in  Chicago,  and  Mr.  Theo.  W.  Letton, 
161  LaSalle  street,isthe  Manager  for  the  West- 
ern States  and  Territories.  He  now  has  more 
than  five  hundred  agents  in  his  field,  and  the 
receipts  for  1883  show  a  very  handsome  in- 
crease over  those  of  last  year,  demonstrating 
conclusively  that  the  company  is  popular  in 
his  department 

NORTHERN   ASSURANCE    COMPANY. 

ITS   CHICAGO    AGENCY. 

One  of  the  stanchest  fire  insurance  cor- 
porations doing  business  in  this  country  is 
that  popular  old  Scotch  company,  the  North- 
ern Assurance  Company  of  Aberdeen  and 
London,  which  commenced  business  away 
back  in  183t5  with  a  premium  income  that 
year  of  $4,500.  Some  idea  of  its  success 
and  popularity  may  be  gleaned  from  its 
record,  which  shows  a  constant  and  steady 
increase,  until  last  year  its  receipts  for 
prejniums  reached  the  enormous  figure  of 
$2,300,500.  It  has  a  paid  up  cash 
capital  of  $1,500,000;  net  fire  assets  of  over 
$6,000,000,  of  which  $4,344,002  is  a  surplus 
over  all  liabilities  for  the  security  of  policy- 
holders.  In  this  country  it  has  assets 
invested  to  the  extent  of  $1,221,601,  over 
two-thirds  of  which  is  surplus.  The  com- 
pany's business  in  the  Western  States  ia 
managed  from  Chicago  by  W.  D.  Crooke, 


office  204  LaSalle  street.  Residents  in  Chi- 
cago can  obtain  policies  of  the  Resident 
Agent,  Henry  H.  Brown,  No.  185  LaSalle 
street. 

THE  NIAGARA  FIRE  INSURANCE  CO. 

OF   NEW   YOKE, 

The  sixty-fifth  semi-annual  report  of  this 
well-known  and  deservedly  popular  insur- 
ance company  furnishes  abundant  and  grat- 
ifying evidence  of  its  high  financial  charac- 
ter, and  the  admirable  manner  in  which  its 
affairs  have  been  managed  by  its  officers. 
According  to  the  report  above  referred  to 
the  corporation  has  assets  amounting  to  $1.- 
780,490.35,  and  a  net  surplus  over  and 
above  its  liabilities  of  $536,858.52.  This  is 
a  kind  of  showing  that  invariably  wins  pub- 
lic confidence,  and  as  would  naturally  be  ex- 
pected, the  Niagara  has  enjoyed  during  the 
year  just  closed  a  season  of  prosperity  and 
remains  where  it  has  been  for  vears,  at  the 
front  rank  of  fist-class  fire  insurance  com- 
panies. The  Niagara  has  been  fortunate  in 
securing  for  officers  men  of  ability  and  in- 
tegrity. Messrs.  Peter  Notman  and  Thomas 
F.  Goodrich,  its  President  and  Secretary :  O. 
S.  Blackwelder,  Chicago  Manager,  and  Morris 
Franklin,  associate,  are  all  conspicuous 
figures  in  insurance  circles  East  and  West 

THE  PHO3NIX  FIRE  INSURANCE. 

B.    S.    CBITCHELL   &   CO. 

In  fire  insurance,  as  in  most  other  things, 
the  best  is  the  cheapest.  R.  S.  Critchell  & 
Co. ,  who  for  fifteen  years  past  have  had  the 
agency  of  some  of  the  strongest  and  best 
managed  companies,  are  agents  for  the 
Phoenix  Fire  Assurance  Company  of  London, 
the  Springfield  Fire  and  Marine  Insurance 
Company  of  Massachusetts,  Niagara  of  New 
York,  County  Fire  and  Lumbermen's  of  Phil- 
adelphia, and  others.  These  companies  pos- 
sess over  $11,000,000  of  assets,  and  have 
paid  $100.000,000  in  losses  since  their 
organization. 

Critchell  &  Co.'s  agency  is  without  a  supe- 
rior in  the  city  in  any  respect,  and  no  pains 
are  spared  to  do  their  business  carefully  and 
promptly.  Their  office  is  at  141  and  143  La- 
Salle street 

THE   HOME. 

"EQUAL  TO  ANY  EMEKGENCY." 
The  Home  Insurance  Company  of  New 
York,  one  of  the  largest  and  most  popular 
fire  companies  in  the  world,  has  an  immense 
ncome  and  assets  equal  for  any  emergency. 
It  insures  against  fire,  lightning,  and  tor- 
nadoes, and  has  agencies  in  all  the  cities, 
towns,  and  villages  of  the  United  States. 
Since  the  organization,  in  1853,  it  has  paid 
over  $35,000,000  in  losses.  The  following 
statement  shows  its  condition  on  July  1, 
1883: 

Cash  capital $3,000,000.00 

Reserve  for  unearned  premiums —  2,'2r2,267.00 
Reserve  for  unpaid  losses  and 

claims     .  209,711.21 

Net  surplus 1,749.292.61 

Total  cash  assets  1st  July,1883.$7, 171,270.82 
The  managers  of  its  Western  department 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


and    local    agents    for  Chicago    are    Messrs. 
Ducat  <fc  Lyon,  No.  loo  LaSalle    street. 

NEW  YORK   ALLIANCE. 

AMONG      THE    BEST    AGENCIES. 

This  favorite  organization  is  composed  of 
the  Pacific  and  New  York  Bowery  Fire  In- 
surance Companies  of  New  York.  E.  W. 
Lyman  is  General  Agent  for  the  Western 
States,  with  headquarters  at  150  and  152 
LaSalle  street.  These  companies  stand  in 
tie  front  rank  and  are  justly  considered 
among  the  strongest  and  best  doing  an  agency 
business.  With  long  experience,  ample  capi- 
tal, large  net  surplus,  and  investments  of  the 
most  solid  character,  be  ing  mainly  in  govern- 
ment bonds,  their  policy  is  sought  by  busi- 
ness men  who  desire  the  best  indemnity. 
The  New  York  Alliance  is  represented  in  all 
the  principal  cities  and  towns  of  the  United 
States.  The  Chicago  agency  of  the  Alliance 
is  represented  by  E.  W.  Lyman  &  Co.,  at  153 
LaSalle  street 

THE  LANCASHIRE  INSURANCE  CO. 

OF  MANCHESTER,    ENGLAND. 

This  sterimsr  comp  my  was  incorporated  in 
the  year  1852.  Commenced  business  in  the 
United  States  in  1872.  Since  its  organiza- 
tion it  has  paid  in  losses  over  $13,500,000. 
It  has  paid  in  losses  in  the  United  States  over 
$5,000,000.  The  following  statement  shows 
the  condition  of  its  United  States  branch 
Jan  1,  1883: 

Assets  (United  States  bonds) $1,447,492.58 

Total  liabilities 719,467.59 


Net  surplus $728,024. 99 

Messrs.  Fred  S.  James  <fe  Co.  are  the  Chicago 
agents.  Mr.  W.  G.  Ferguson  is  the  manager 
of  its  Western  Department,  No.  161  LaSalle 
street,  Chicago. 

CITY  OF  LONDON  FIRE  INSURANCE  CO. 

OF  LONDON,    ENGLAND. 

This  company  commenced  business  in  the 
United  States  with  the  unusual  large  initial 
remittance  of  $550,000,  all  invested  in 
United  States  4  per  cent  bonds,  held  in 
absolute  legal  trust  for  the  security  of  United 
States  policy-holders.  The  Trustees  are 
Charles  F.  Choate,  President  Old  Colony 
Railroad  Company;  Oliver  Ames,  of  Oliver 
Ames  &  Son,  and  Reuben  E.  Demmon,  Presi- 
dent Howard  National  Bank  of  Boston.  Mass. 
John  C.  Paige,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  is  Resident 
Manager,  and  Edwin  A.  Simonds,  No.  153 
LaSalle  street,  Chicago,  111.,  is  General  Asrent 
of  the  Western  department  of  this  company. 


LOCAL    AGENCIES. 

E.  W.  LYMAN  &  CO., 

152   LASALLE   STREET. 

The  members  of  this  firm,  E.  W.  Lyman 
and  Henry  W.  Rice,  have  been  for  many 
years  leading  underwriters  in  this  city. 

The  companies  they  represent  are  the 
New  York  Alliance.  Rutgers,  People's,  Mer- 
chants, and  Franklin  and  Emporium  (all  of 
New  York  City),  and  the  Citizens',  of  Penn- 
sylvania. The  names  of  these  companies  ajre 


familiar  to  the  business  men  of  Chicago,  and 
only  need  to  be  mentioned  by  us.  whey 
they  will  be  at  once  recognized  as  among  the 
very  best  represented  in  this  city,  strong  and 
conservative,  and  always  prompt  in  settle- 
ment and  payment  of  losses. 

S.  M.  MOOKE    &  CO., 

THE  WELL-KNOWN    INSURANCE  FIRM 

on  the  southeast  corner  of  LaSalle  and  Madison 
streets,  report  their  business  as  steadily  in- 
creasing year  by  year.  They  continue  to 
represent  the  Orient  of  Hartford,  the  Lion  of 
London,  the  Louisville  Underwriters,  and  the 
London  and  Provincial  of  London,  all  strong 
companies  financially,  careful  in  manacro- 
ment,  and  prompt  in  settlement  of  claims, 
therefore  worthy  the  support  of  the  insuring 
public. 

GRANGER  SMITH  &  CO. 

SOME  BIG  COMPANIES. 

The  old  and  favorably  known  agency  of 
Granger  Smith  &  Co.,  158  LaSalle  street,  rep- 
resents the  following  standard  compa- 
nies: Mechanics  and  Traders',  of  New  York; 
Manufacturers  and  Builders',  of  New  York  ; 
New  York  Fire,  of  New  York;  Buffalo  Insur- 
ance Company,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y. ;  Security  In- 
surance Company,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

DUCAT  &  LYON. 

This  veil-known  firm,  155  LaSalle  street, 
have  the  local  agencies  for  Chicago  of  the 
Home,  Howard,  Citizens',  and  National,  all  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  and  first-class  standard 
companies. 

LIFE    INSURANCE. 

A   BIT   OF  HISTORY. 

Life  insurance  is  a  system  of  charity  where 
every  man  provides  for  his  own  after  he  is 
gone.  The  oldest  American  life  insurance 
company  dates  from  175!).  and  the  writings 
of  that  old  philosopher.  Benjamin  Franklin, 
show  that  he  knew  much  more  about  this 
business  and  of  what  value  it  would  be  to 
coming  generations  than  do  many  people  to- 
day. The  growth  of  the  business  has  been 
like  the  rising  of  the  sun,  so  steady  that  the 
changes  in  position  could  hardly  be  noticed, 
but  now,  when  at  the  zenith,  we  can  look 
back  over  the  course  and  see  the  wonderful 
progress.  Its  growth  in  the  last  forty  years 
has  been  one  of  the  wonders  of  the  century. 
Quietly  it  has  made  its  wav  into  every  city. 
town,  and  village,  and  thrown  its  protecting 
arms  around  millions  who  would  otherwise 
have  no  refuge  from  the  cold  charity  of  the 
worldL 

FIRST  AGENT  IN  CHICAGO. 

In  Chicago  that  old  pioneer,  Gurdon  S. 
Hubbard,  was  the  first  to  interest  the  people 
in  this  business.  He  opened  his  office  r.s 
agent  of  one  of  the  oldest  insurance  com- 
panies in  the  country  in  1*3-1,  and  did  busi- 
ness in  both  fire  and  life  insurance.  This 
was  the  beginning. 

To  speak  of  the  business  done  in  Chicago 
now  would  be  difficult,  for  this  is  the  grea 
center  for  the  business  throughout  the  West. 
All  the  companies  of  any  prominence  in  this 
country  and  Europe  have  their  Western 
agencies  here,  and  to  speak  of  the  business 
in  Chicago  is  to  speak  of  it  as  a  whole. 

Not  long  ago  a  careful  estimate  was  ma^e, 
which  showed  that  there  were  over  5,000.00! i 
people  m  this  country  having  a  direct  or 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUttl. 


property  interest  in  life  insurance — that  is, 
more  people  were  looking1  to  the  life  insur- 
ance companies  than  the  combined  popula- 
tion of  New  York.  Philadelphia,  Boston,  Chi- 
cago, St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  St.  Paul,  San 
Francisco,  New  Orleans,  Brooklyn,  and  Min- 
neapolis. 

WOULD  PAT  THE  NATIONAL  DEBT. 

This  great  army  of  insured  hold  policies  to 
the  amount  of  $1,649,484,953.16,  which 
would  pay  off  the  National  debt.  In  the  past 
there  have  been  paid  $823,897,319.37  to 
policy-holders,  as  losses  have  .occurred.  The 
assets  of  all  the  life  insurance  companies  last 
year  were  $468,541.788.93,  or  more  than  all 
the  railroads  in  New  England  cost,  more  than 
$100,000,000  in  excess  of  the  circulation  of 
all  the  National  banks,  and  almost  equal  to 
the  capital  stock  of  all  the  National  banks  in 
this  country. 

As  said  before,  the  amount  of  insurance  in 
force  would  pay  the  National  debt,  and  ex- 
ceed by  $108,000,000  the  individual  de- 
posits in  all  the  National  banks.  It  is  gener- 
ally supposed  that  the  banks  of  the  country- 
control  the  financial  business,  but  here  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  life  insurance  com- 
panies owe  their  patrons  $100,000,000  more 
than  do  all  the  banks. 

And  to  go  further  in  comparison,  the 
amounts  paid  in  by  the  policy-holders  in 
premiums  in  a  year  was  $60,444,996,  and 
the  amount  paid  to  policy-holders  in  the  same 
time,  $58,38'8,283;  so  it  "will  be  seen  that  the 
difference  is  not  so  great  as  some  suppose. 

Estimating  the  population  of  the  United 
States  at  50,000,000.  it  will  be  seen  that 
those  interested  in  life  insurance  equal  one- 
tenth  of  the  entire  number  of  people. 

ESTATES  LEFT  BY  INSURANCE. 

Some  of  the  largest  policies  ever  paid  in 
life  insurance  are  as  follows: 

Sir  Robert  Clifton,  England.  $1,250,000; 
Abbott  Lawrence,  Massachusetts,  $40,000; 
\V.  H.  Langley,  Galliopolis,  Ohio,  $300.000; 
John  J.  Eoe,  'St.  Louis,  $200,000;  Andrew 
Johnson,  Tennessee,  $100,000;  Eeverdy  John- 
son, Baltimore,  $100,000;  C.  C.  Wait.  New 
York,  $100.000;  Francis  Whittaker,  St. 
Louis,  $100,000;  W.  H.  Seward,  New  York, 
$100,000;  Horace  Greeley.  New  York,  $100, 
000;  W.  H.  Ferry,  Lake  Forest,  111.,  $50,000- 
Geo.  K.  Chittenclen.  Chicago,  $76,000;  Chas; 
E.  Norwood,  Chicago,  $75,000;  Mahlon  D. 
Ogden,  Chicago,  $60,000;  Wm.  F.  Coolbaugh. 
Chicago,  $100,000;  J.  M.  Dake,  Chicaaro, 
$140,000;  SextusN.  Wilcox,  Chicago,  $60,, 
000;  W.  W.  Switzer,  St.  Louis,  $310,000- 
Daniel  Drew,  New  York, _$1 50, 000:  J.  M; 
Beebe,  Boston,  $100,000;  WT  H.  Ovington. 
Chicago,  $45,000;  James  A.  Garfleld,  Ohio, 
$35,000;  H.  T.  Blow,  St.  Louis,  $117,000;  J, 
W.  Crafts,  Boston.  $110,000;  Dean  Rich- 
mond, New  York,  $106,000;  D.  S.  Voorhes. 
New  York,  $50,000. 

An  idea  of  who  are  some  of  the  large  policy 
holders  may  be  had  from  the  following  list : 

Each  man  in  the  appended  list  carries  at 
least  $50,000  life  insurance,  and  most  of 
them  considerably  more,  some  of  them  being 
insured  for  over  $100,000:  S.  M.  Nickerson, 
Elisha  Eldred,  C.  L  Peck,  N.  K.  Fairbank,  L. 
J.  Gage,  Nelson  Ludirigton,  WilLam  Bross, 
J.  O.  Rutter,  H.  Z.  Culver,  S.  D.  Kimbark, 
Ferd  W.  Peck,  C.  M.  Henderson,  J.  H.  Mc- 
Vicker,  Charles  Vergho,  J.  V.  Farwell,  J. 
Sherman  Hale,  Edson  Keith,  Ebenezer  Buck- 
ingham, George  M.  Pullman,  T.  W.  Harvey, 
Perry  H.  Smith,  W.  C.  Grant,  A.  B.  Meeker, 
L.  D.  Norton,  E.  W.  Blatchford,  Albert  A. 
Hunger,  Frank  D.  Gray,  S.  K.  Dow,  8.  H.  Kwr- 


foot,  W.  H.  Chappell,  H.  D.  Colvin,  W.  B. 
Phillips,  J.  L.  Norton,  Harlow  Higgenbotham, 
Carter  H.  Harrison,  Anson  Stager,  Erastus  N. 
Bates,  A.  N.  Eddy,  Marshall  Field,  H.  A.  Kust, 
William  A.  Fuller,  P.  C.  Hanford,  E.  P.  Gris- 
wold,  Frank  Parmelee,  Ira  Holmes.  Francis  B. 
Peabody,  E.  G.  Asay,  Leander  J.  McCormick. 
L.  Z.  Leiter,  Henry  Field,  Levi  L.  Atwood, 
Horace  White,  David  H.  Hills,  Morris  Barbe, 
A.  M.  Wright,  J.  M.  Daggett,  J.  Russell  Jones, 
Robert  Law,  A.  Booth,  J.  Y.  Scarnmon,  H.  H. 
Shufeldt,  Lyman  Baird,  Alfred  Cowles,  B. 
Lowenthal,  Elbridge  G.  Keith,  Redmond 
Prindiville,  Charles  Fargo,  Hiram  Wheeler, 
E.  G.  Mason,  Samuel  J.  Walker,  F.  A.  Bryan, 
C.  F.  Gates,  David  Stettauer,  C.  B.  Nelson, 
Morris  Einstein,  Bernhard  Roessing,  L  H. 
Burch,  H.  C.  Nutt,  Potter  Palmer,  T.  M. 
A very ,  Lewis  Morganthau,  H.  V.  Bemis  Will- 
iam H.  Bradley,  C.  J.  Hull,  L.  L.  Bond,  Charles 
Gilman  Smith,  J.  Edward  Fay,  Edward  Ely, 
C.  P.  Kimball,  A.  C.  Badger,  F.  A.  Stevens, 
William  Sturges,  George  H.  Wheeler,  George 
W.  Hart,  Charles  Schwab,  John  S.  Gould.  W. 
E.  Burlock,  A.  E.  Neeley,  Robert  D.  Fowler. 


LIFE   ASSOCIATION 

was  established  in  1881  in  New  York,  in 
obedience  to  an  imperative  demand  on  the 
part  of  the  public  for  a  cheap  and  reliable 
system,  of  life  insurance,  which  would  be 
within  the  means  of  the  million,  and  at  the 
same  time  prove  a  perfectly  safe  way  of  in- 
vesting small  savings  for  the  benefit  of  the 
loved  ones.  The  association  is  purely  mutual 
in  character,  but  differs  from  ordinary  mu- 
tual benefit  companies  in  the  possession  of  a 
reserve  fund,  designed  to  guard  against  in- 
creasing assessments,  as  its  members  grow 
older,  and  to  make  the  '  'last  man"  insured  as 
well  as  the  first,  equally  secure.  It  also 
provides  against  excessive  loss  through 
epidemics,  etc.  This  association  does  not 
purpose  to  accumulate  large  surpluses  in  ex- 
cess of  what  is  required  to  protect  its  pol- 
icy-holders; any  surplus  is  immediately 
placed  to  the  credit  of  the  insured  and  is  em- 
ployed to  pay  assessments.  The  result  is,  its 
policies  are  nearly  or  quite  self-sustaining 
after  about  fifteen  years.  The  cost  of  insur- 
ance in  this  excellent  association,  whicn  has 
received  the  unqualified  indorsement  of  the 
best  insurance  experts  and  actuaries,  is  best 
explained  by  an  illustration.  The  writer,  50 
years  old,  is  insured  in  it  for  $10,000  at  the 
following  cost:  Admission  fee,  $30;  medical 
examination,  $3;  annual  dues,  $20;  six  pos- 
sible assessments  per  year  (the  average  has 
been  less  than  four),  $20  each,  $120;  total, 
$173. 

Deducting  admission  ana  medical  examina- 
tion fees — which  are  not  required  a  second 
time — it  costs  the  man  of  50  about  $140  a 
year  to  carry  $10,000  insurance  in  the  Mu- 
tual Reserve  Fund.  The  same  insurance  in 
the  high-rate  companies  would  cost  about 
$475  per  year,  leaving  a  difference  in  favor 
of  the  Mutual  Reserve  Fund  Association  of 
$335  annually.  This  is  worth  considering. 
The  association  is  entirely  reliable,  and  has 
promptly  paid  every  loss  sustained.  The 
office  of  "its  Western  Department,  at  No.  113 
Adams  street,  Chicago,  is  under  the  super- 
vision of  its  Vice-President,  Dr.  D.  M.  Cald- 
well,  an  accomplished  gentleman  and  phy- 
sician. Within  less  than  three  years  this  as- 
sociation has  placed  17,000  members  upon 
its  books,  and  issued  policies  covering  $75,- 
000,000. 


CHAP  TEE  DL 


MERCANTILE. 

THE    WHOLESALE    TRADE. 

WHEN  AND  BY  WHOM  IT  WAS  BEGUN. 

The  first  wholesale  trader  in  Chicago  is 
hard  to  locate,  since  all  the  retail  stores  made 
a  point  of  fitting  out  inland  camps  and  stores. 
As  early  as  1836  Stiles  Burton  was  in  the 
wholesale  grocery  and  liquor  business,  and 
was  located  at  the  corner  of  Lake  and  State 
streets.  He  did  a  large  and  lucrative  busi- 
ness, as  he  fitted  out  many  of  the  smacks  and 
luggers  that  plied  the  lakea 

L.  M.  Boyce  did  a  wholesale  drug  business 
at  No.  121  Lake  street,  and  W.  H.  &  A.  F. 
Clarke  did  a  wholesale  drug  business  at  No. 
128  Lake  street;  George  Delicker  carried  on 
a  wholesale  grocery  at  No.  163  Lake  street, 
in  1839,  and  Harman,  Loomis  &  Co.  were 
also  in  this  line  in  that  year.  William  Lill 
was  running  his  brewery  on  the  north  lake 
shore  in  that  year.  Nicholson  &  Co.  had  a 
large  general  wholesale  and  retail  store  on 
North  Water  street  in  1839;  G.  F.  Randolph 
carried  on  a  wholesale  dry  goods  business  at 
No.  109  Lake  street;  Kobert  and  James 
Woodworth  were  also  in  the  wholesale  dry 
jroods  business  at  No.  103  Lake  street;  George 
Whit«  had  a  general  store  and  was  city  crier 
about  this  time. 

BUSINESS  BEGINS. 

In  1850  the  wholesale  trade  had  become  a 
definite  and  separate  business.  In  the  dry 
goods  line  Cooley,  Wadsworth  &  Co.  were  the 
leadiner  house  and  carried  on  a  large  business 
at  No.  205  South  Water  street;  Mills,  Bowen, 
Dillenbeck  &  Co.  were  the  only  other  large 
dry  goods  house  here  then,  and  were  located 
at  No.  100  Lake  street.  The  business  was 
not  remarkable  in  the  light  of  the  present 
day,and  altogether  did  not  reach  five  million 
dollars;  still  it  was  great  for  those  days. 
Barrett,  King  &  Co.  were  a  large  gents' 
furnishing  house  at  No.  189  and  191  South 
Water  street.  They  did  a  large  business 
from  the  fact  that  they  had  a  partial  mo- 
nopoly of  their  line. 

The  wholesale  grocers  were  numerous 
about  this  date,  there  being  no  less  than 
twenty-two  firms  engaged  in  that  line  ex- 
clusively. Chicago  has  always  been  the 
second  city  in  the  Union,  since  the  war,  in 
the  wholesale  grocery  line,  and  in  1850  was 
not  far  behind  Boston  or  Philadelphia,  The 
leading  firing  at  that  tame  were  Gould 


Brothers,  No.  135  South  Water  street; 
Flanderi  &  Wadsworth,  No.  173  South  Water 
street;  J.  H.  Dunham  &  Co.,  Nos.  92.  9-1,  and 
96  South  Water  street;  Saterlee,  Cook  &  Co., 
No.  64  Lake  street;  Warner  &  Clark.  No.  107 
South  Water  street.  The  wholesale  druggists 
were  Barclay  Brothers,  No.  218  South  Water 
street;  Bay  &  Baldwin,  No.  139  Lake  street; 
Brinkerhoff  &  Penton,  No.  94  Lake  street 

AS   THE   CITY   GBEW 

and  the  railroad  facilities  improved^  so  did 
the  wholesale  trade  advance.  In  1865,  after 
the  war,  the  wholesale  houses  were  more 
plentiful  in  Chicago  than  in  any  other  city 
except  New  York.  The  wholesale  grocers 
were  thirty  in  number,  and  Day,  Allen  &  Co., 
J.  W.  Doane  &  Co.,  D.  J.  Ely  &  Co.,  Boynton 
&  Smith,  Hinsdale.Sibley  &  Endicott  are  some 
of  the  prominent  firms  of  that  date.  They 
did  a  business  of  from  $500,000  to  $2,OOO,- 
000,  and  were  shipping  goods  all  through 
the  Northwest. 

The  wholesale  dry  goods  trade  was  repre- 
sented in  those  days  by  what  was  then  con- 
sidered large  concerns,  American  &  Smith, 
Bowen  Brothers,  Carson,  Pirie  &  Co.,  Coo- 
ley,  FarweU  &  Co. ,  Field,  Palmer  &  Leiter, 
Richards,  Crumbaugh  &  Shaw  were  some  of 
the  merchant  princes  of  those  busy  times.  The 
wholesale  drug  men  were  also  noticeable  then, 
for  the  fat  contracts  for  medicines  were  letin 
Chicago.  J.  H.  Reed  &  Co.,  Fuller,  Finch  & 
Fuller,  Smith  &  Dwyer,  Burnhams  &  Van 
Schaack  are  some  of  the  leading  wholesalers 
of  that  date. 

The  business  of  the  years  preceding  the 
fire  of  1871  gradually  increased.  After  that 
date  the  increase  was  marvelous,  and  so 
great  was  the  expanse  of  the  trade  in  this 
city  that  several  smaller  cities  which  had 
drawn  upon 

CHICAGO  AS  A  BASE  OF   SUPPLIES 

turned  about  and  took  ur>  the  wholesale 
trade  cutting  into  Chicago's  business  con- 
siderably. But  tae  natural  increase  of  popu- 
lation m  the  Nortnwest  has  more  than 
doubled  the  wholesale  traffic  of  this  city 
since  the  fire,  and  it  is  admitted  on  all  hands 
that  capital  invested  in  business  here  pays  a 
better  interest  than  in  any  other  city. 

The  magnitude  of  the  trade  to-day  is  mar- 
velous reaching  as  it  does  to  a  business  of 
$30,000,000  for  one  firm,  and  overtopping 
the  trade  of  any  other  city  in  the  Union  in 
many  lines.  Chicago  to-day  stands  at  the 
head  of  certain  lines  of  business,  and  is  sec- 
ond only  to  New  York  in  any  line  whatso- 
ever. 

The  importing  of  tea  is  a  specialty  witn 
this  city,  aud  this  year  the  imports  promise 
to  be  26  per  cent  greater  than  ever  before. 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURA. 


Ever  since  1881  Chicago  has  imported  more 
tea  than  any  city  in  the  world. 

The  first  dry  goods  house  in  the  country  is 
here,  the  first  millinery  establishment,  aud 
in  the  wholesale  grocery  line  bufc  one  house 
in  the  country  exceeds  some  of  the  Chicago 
establishments,  and  that  is  in  New  York. 
The  half  century  sees  Chicago  next  to  the 
head.  The  century  will  see  her,  at  the  same 
rate  of  progress,  at  the  head  of  every  com- 
mercial city  in  the  world. 

MARSHAL,!,  FIELD  &  CO. 

THE  LARGEST  DRY  GOODS  HOUSE  IN  THE  WEST. 

To  thousands  of  people  scattered  from 
Maine  to  California  and  from  Hong  Kong  to 
London,  Chicago  and  Marshall  Field  &  Co.  are 
synonymous  terms.  They  are  not  the  same, 
as  any  one  living  in  thia  city  can  testify,  but 
there  are  many  people  in  distant  parts  of  the 
world  who  hear  of  the  former  only  because 
of  something  sold  to  or  bought  from  the  lat- 
ter's  great  dry  goods  house  that  the  mistake 
is  not  so  unnatural  as  might  be  supposed,  for 
Marshall  Field's  store  is  as  distinct  in  its  po- 
sition as  an  unrivaled  dry  goods  house  as  the 
city  is  in  its  as  tne  only  Chicago. 

HISTORY  OF   THE  ENTERPRISE. 

The  history  of  this  great  commercial  en- 
terprise does  not  date  back  half  a  century 
for  its  beginning,  and  it  is  not  a  quarter  cent- 
ury since  the  name  of  Field  had  any  connec- 
tion with  it.  Potter  Palmer  was  the  founder. 
He  came  to  Chicago  in  1852  and  opened  a 
dry  goods  store  in  a  small,  unpretentious 
store  on  Lake  street,  between  Clark  and 
Dearborn,  which  was  then  in  the  very  heart 
of  trade  in  the  city. 

The  enterprise  was  a  success,  and  from 
that  small  beginning  came  the  great  unriv- 
aled Marshall  Field  &  Co. 

In  the  fall  of  1864  Mr.  Palmer  retired,  dis- 
posing of  his  interests  to  Messrs.  Marshall 
Field,  L.  Z.  Letter  and  Milton  J.  Palmer,  and 
the  name  was  changed  to  Field,  Leiter  & 
Palmer.  In  1866  Mr.  Milton  J,  Palmer  re- 
tired and  the  firm  was  Field  &  Leiter,  a  name 
that  was  familiar  all  over  the  country,  for 
under  that  name  was  achieved  some  of  the 
greatest  triumphs  of  the  establishment 

THE  FIRST  FIRE. 

In  October,  1868,  the  firm  first  occupied  its 
present  site.  The  great  fire  of  October  9. 
1871,  swept  away  all  its  wealth  of  beautiful 
goods  gathered  from  the  four  points  of  the 
compass,  along  with  the  building,  but  the 
men  at  the  head  were  like  Chicago  and  not 
to  be  discouraged  by  a  total  loss,  began  at 
once  the  rebuilding  and  in  a  short  time  the 
site  of  the  ruins  was  reoccupied  by  a  fine 
building. 

Again,  in  1877,  this  beautiful  trade  palace 
was  visited  by  fire  and  all  was  swept 
away.  But  the  Exposition  Building  was 
rented  and  Field  &  Leiter  occupied 
that  until  1879  when  the  new  marble  palace, 
the  best  arranged  retail  store  on  the  conti- 
nent, was  opened.  It  has  been  occupied 
ever  since,  and  the  perfect  fire-proof  struct- 
ure bids  defiance  to  any  more  such  disasters 
as  have  been  experienced  in  the  past. 

WHO  MARSHALL  FIELD  18. 

In  January,  1881,  Mr.  Leiter  retired  from 
the  business,  and  the  firm  became  "Marshall 
Field  &  Company,"  with  Marshall  Field  at  the 
head.  This  gentleman  is  yet  in  the  prime  of 
life,  being  48  year  old,  and  a  resident  of  Chi- 
cago since  1868.  Of  tow  words,  quiet  de- 


meanor, unblemished  moral  character  ana 
habits,  pleasant  manner,  liberal,  thoroughly 
public-spirited  and  sympathetic  in  nature,  is 
this  handsome  man,  who  is  to  be  seen  at  his 
desk  every  day  in  the  wholesale  department, 
managing  this  great  enterprise  as  though  it 
were  a  machine  with  his  liand-on  the  lever. 

The  business  is  dual  in  its  operations — a 
wholesale  house,  with  its  own  establish- 
ment, management  and  commercial  ramifi- 
cations, and  a  retial  trade,  with  its  man- 
agement and  special  f  eatures,each  absolutely 
distinct  in  every  particular. 

The  managers  and  superintendents  of  the 
various  departments  in  the  retail  store  daily 
visit  the  wholesale  house  and  make  such  pur- 
chases as  they  need  in  their  stock,  discount- 
ing their  bills  for  the  cash  down,  thus  buying 
their  goods  precisely  as  do  other  customera 
The  cost  for  all  such  purchases  are  regularly 
paid  over  by  the  retail  to  the  wholesale  house 
each  day  promptly,  before  the  close  of  bank- 
ing hours,  and  no  credit  whatever  is  allowed 
between  the  housea 

IN  THE  RETAIL   STORE, 

the  division  is  into  departments — dress  and 
fancy  goods,  carpets,  upholstery,  and  two 
manufacturing  departments.  The  dress 
and  fancy  goods  department  occupy- 
ing the  first  floor,  is  subdivided 
into  thirty-nine  divisions,  each  under  the 
supervision  of  a  competent  man  who  looks 
after  his  stock  as  though  he  had  a  store  en- 
tirely distinct  from  all  the  rest. 

The  whole  retail  store  is  under  the  man- 
agement of  J.  M.  Flemming,  the  carpet  de- 
partment is  managed  bv  Albert  H.  Dainty, 
and  the  upholstery  department  by  Charles 
H.  Ward.  Each  of  these  gentlemen  effect 
their  own  purchases  from  all  parts  of  the 
world. 

There  are  over  1,500  men,  women,  boys,  and 
girls  in  this  store  to  look  after  the  welfare 
of  the  customers  who  often  number  5,000  at 
once. 

J.    V.    FAKWEUL    Ot    CO. 

THE  LARGEST  BUILDING  IN  THE  COUNTBT. 

Perhaps  no  firm  in  the  United  States  ia  bet- 
ter and  more  favorably  known  in  this  coun- 
try than  J.  V.  Farwell  &  Co. ,  importers  and 
jobbers  of  foreign  and  domestic  dry  gooda 
Within  the  past  year  they  have  moved  into 
their  new  building,  the  largest,  most  exten- 
sive, and  best  arranged  for  their  business  in 
the  East  or  Wesi.  It  is  the  general  verdict 
of  merchants  who  have  been  in  every  similar 
institution  in  the  land  that  this  is  the  case, 
and  the  extent  and  completeness  of  this 
house  has  become  so  universally  known  that 
thousands  of  people  consider  their  visit  to 
Chicago  only  half  made  without  going 
through  the  Farwell  Building. 

Regarding  the  architectural  beauty  of  this 
building,  it  can  be  truthfully  said  to  rival 
any  building  in  Chicago.  It  is  constructed 
of  Philadelphia  pressed  brick,  with  stone 
trimmings,  and  the  architects  and  contractors 
were  evidently  given  all  the  latitude  they  de- 
sired in  planning  and  construction.  Its  mas- 
siveness  makes  it,  in  fact,  the  most  attractive 
building  on  Market  street,  and  other  build- 
Ings  that  were  once  considered  to  be  giants  of 
stanw  and  briok  now  sink  Into  insignificance 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTtfRt. 


when  compared  with  the  great  Farwell 
Block,  that  looms  above  everything,  and  can 
he  seen  at  a  great  distance  from  almost  every 
direction. 

DIMENSIONS  OF  THE  BUILDING. 

The  dimensions  of  this  building  are  280x 
400  feet,  it  is  six  floors  above  ground  and 
two  below,  i.  e. ,  a  basement  and  sub-base- 
ment, besides  immense  storage-rooms  under 
Market  street.  The  building  itself  cost  $1,- 
000,000  and  stands  on  ground  worth  $500,- 
000  more.  The  boiler  and  engine-rooms 
front  on  Adams  street  and  extend  across  the 
entire  Imildinsr  from  east  to  west.  Tne 
boiler-room  is  70x90  feet,  20  feet  high,  and 
is  said  to  be  the  best  boiler-room  in  Cnic:;go. 
The  engine  is  an  improved  Corliss,  250-horse 
power,  with  a  20-foot  fly  wheel;  there 
are  eight  boilers  84  inches 

and  16  feet  in  length;  12  elevators 
are  used  in  the  building;  two  large-sized 
Worthington  pumps  for  feeding  boilers;  one 
8-nose  pump  "for  fiirc  purposes;  one  5-nose 
pump  for  pumping  water  to  a  tank  of  40,- 
000  tons  capacity,  located  on  the  roof;  250,- 
000  feet  of  steam  pipe  is  employed  to  heat 
the  building.  Electricity  is  used  in  lighting 
the  building.  Tne  Schroll  smokeless  furnace 
has  recentlv  been  attached  to  the  boilers,  and 
gives  perfect  satisfaction. 

WHAT   CLASS   OF   GOODS   ABE   CABBIED. 

The  first  floor  contains  the  offices,  sales- 
men's desks,  and  a  general  line  of  prints  and 
other  dome?t:c  goods.  On  the  second  floor  is 
found  an  immen«e  stock  of  imported  an  1  do- 
mestic dress  goods,  velvets,  silks,  shawls, 
etc.,  and  in  this  specialty  Farwell  &  Co.  are 
second  to  no  firm  in  the  United  States.  The 
third  floor  is  devoted  to  upholstery,  woolens, 
and  flannels;  the  fourth  to  white 
and  knit  goods,  hosiery,  yarns,  gloves, 
etc.  The  fifth  floor  is  tilled  entirely  with 
as  complete  a  line  of  notions,  ribbons, 
threads,  jewelry,  clocks,  watches,  etc.,  as 
can  be  found  in  this  or  any  other  country. 
Reaching  the  sixth  floor,  the  largest  stock  of 
carpets  and  oil  cloths  in  the  West  is  displayed. 
The  light  throughout  the  entire  building,  one 
of  the  essentials  to  the  proper  display  of 
goods,  is  so  distributed  as  to  be  perfect  in 
r-very  respect. 

TEKiUTOKY   BEACHED   AND   ANNUAL   SALE3. 

In  response  to  the  question  as  to  the  ter- 
;  itory  reached  by  Farwell  &  Co.,  they  replied 
ihatthey  went  east  as  far  as  Detroit,  south 
and  southeast  to  Cincinnati,  and  .jyond 
St.  Louis,  west  to  the  Pacific  coast,  and 
north  to  the  British  possessions — embracing 
a  scope  of  country  the  extent  of  which  will 
hardlv  be  recognized  by  the  casual  reader  at 
drat  glance.  Within  this  radius  are  included 
seventeen  States  and  every  1  erritory  in  the 
Union. 

The  sales  of  this  house  reuc  u:d  the  enor- 
mous fisrures  of  $20,000,000  the  past  year, 
:n.  iiK-rease  of  20  per  cent  over  those  for 
lss2. and  50  per  cent  over  those  of  a  faw 
years  asro,  a  fact  that  will  astonish  the  com- 
mercial world,  and  cause  competitors  to  be 
surprised  at  the  marvelous  growth  of  J.  V. 
Farwell  &  Co. 's  business.  It  is  questionable 
if  there  is  another  institution  of  the  kind  in 
this  country  that  can  make  as  good  an  ex- 
hibit or  show  a  healthier  growth,  and  is  only 
one  more  illustration  of  the  grand  possibili- 
ties of  Chicago's  future.  The  fact  that  this  is 
an  exclusively  wholesale  establishment  must 
not  be  excluded  from  the  mind  of  the  reader, 
the  proprietors  resisting  the  temptation  of 
reaping  the  profits  of  an  extensive  retail  store 
in  this  city,  and  giving  thereby  their  custom- 


ers the  opportunities  that  rightfully  belong 
to  them,  and  at  the  same  time  being  enabled 
to  throw  their  entire  energy  and'time  into 
the  wholesale  business. 

THE   STOCK  OF   GOODS   CABBIED 

by  this  house,  amounting  to  $5,000,- 
000,  is.  of  course,  in  accord  with 
its  other  immense  proportions,  and 
the  force  required  to  move  and 
control  this  enormous  business  is  500  em- 
ployes. Twice  each  year  a  large  corps  of 
genera1  salesmen  are  sent  throughout  the  en- 
tire territory  controlled  by  this  house  to 
visit  the  trade  and  introduce  the  many  nov- 
elties they  are  -constantly  securing  for  theif 
customers. 

For  the  past  thirty  years  J.  V.  Farwell  has 
been  actively  engaged  in  mercantile  life  in 
Chicago,  and  otherwise  identified  with  its  in- 
terest, and  the  house  of  which  these  lines 
have  spoken  may  very  properly  be  classed  as 
the  pioneer.  A  remarkable  fact  which,  by 
the  way,  speaks  well  for  employer  and  em- 
ploye, in  this  connection,  is  that  some  of 
them  have  been  together  for  the  space  of  a 
quarter  of  a  century— having  grown  gray  in 
the  service,  with  the  bonds  of  good  fellow- 
ship still,  doubtless,  as  lasting  as  life. 

C.  M.   HENDERSON. 

BOOTS   AND    SHOES. 

The  annual  sales  in  this  line  of  goods  at 
Chicago  have  reached  such  dimensions  that 
this  city  now  ranks  first  in  importance  as  a 
producing  and  distributing  point.  Every- 
thing from  the  finest  ladies'  shoe  to  tne 
stoga  of  the  cattle  ranch  is  manufactured 
here,  and  the  brands  of  the  Chicago  manu- 
facturers have  become  more  widely  known 
and  familiar  to  the  country  than  any  other 
make. 

The  goods  bear  a  high  reputatien  for  style 
and  finish,  and  the  shoe  buyer  finds  that  no 
other  market  offers  such  inducements  for 
purchase  as  this  city,  not  only  as  legards 
prices  but  in  the  variety  of  selection  and  un- 
equalled facilities  for  shipment.  Among  the 
men  who  have  by  their  persevering  efforts 
given  to  Chicago  this  proud  position 

C.  M.  HENDEBSON  &  CO.  ABE  ALWAYS  NAMED  AS 
THE  LEADEBS. 

They  are  the  largest  and  among  the 
oldest  boot  and  shoe  manufacturers 
in  the  West.  Beginning  years  ago 
(1851)  in  a  small  way,  they  have  reached  in 
1884  the  pinnacle  in  the  boot  and  shoe  trade. 
This  position  has  been  secured  in  the  face  of 
many  difficulties.  The  great  boot  and  shoe 
manufacturers  of  the  East  were  a  few  years 
ago  firmly  seated  on  the  throne  of  trade,  but 
this  firm  has  overcome  the  competition  and 
the  influence  of  the  plutocracy  of  the  sea- 
board, by  persisting  in  manufacturing  supe- 
rior goods  and  selling  them  at  small  pr.  fits. 

The  manufacture  and  sale  of  boots  and 
shoes  requires  perhaps  a  srreater  variety  of 
talents  and  versatility  to  win  popularity  than 
any  other  line,  and  these  qualities  are  evi- 
dently possessed  by  this  firm  to  an  unusual 
degrea  They  have  two  immense  factories. 
and  their  facilities  for  producing  goods 
cheaply  are  unsurpassed. 

The  most  popular  and  durable  children's 
shoe  ever  made  was  created  not  long  since 
by  this  firm,  to  meet  a  special  and  long- felt 
want  A  stylish,  tough,  avid  everlasting  piece- 
of  pedal  architecture.  ju«t  the  thing  for 
boisterous  school  children.  Our  readers  will 
recognize  the  brand  under  the  name  of  the 
Henderson  "Red  School  House"  shoe,  a  name 


90 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


which  is  becomin 
out  the  land,  an 
and  strength. 


ig  a  household  word  through- 
d  a  synonym  for  durability 


WILLIAM  BL.A1R  &   CO. 

OVEB  FOBTY  TEABS  OLD. 

This  extensive  hardware  house,  established 
in  1842  under  the  above  name,  is  located  at 
172,  174,  and  176  Lake  street.  Mr.  Blair, 
its  present  senior  member,  was  its  senior 
member  then,  and  very  properly  Mr.  Blair 
may  be  designated  as  the  father  of  the  hard- 
ware trade  of  Chicago,  if  not  indeed  as  a 
business  man  of  almost  any  other  line  of 
business  in  this  progressive  city.  The  firm 
has  thus  been  in  continuous  existence,  with- 
out change  in  name  or  in  government,  for  a 
period  of  over  forty  years.  It  is  also  a  note- 
worthy fact  that  this  firm  commands  a 
larger  amount  of  actual  capital  than  any 
other  house  in  this  line  in  the  West  The 
main  secret  of  the  great  success  of  Messrs. 
William  Blair  &  Co. 's  house  is  due  to  their 
honorable  dealing  with  their  customers,  and 
with  the  careful  study  of  the  demands  of 
the  trade  and  the  wants  of  the  community. 
The  firm  deals  largely  in  shelf -hard  ware  of 
all  varieties,  tin  plate,  tinners'  tools  and  ma- 
chines, stamped  and  japanned  tinware,  tin- 
ners' stock,  metals,  shet-t  iron,  agricultural 
implements,  plain  and  barbed  wire  fence, 
etc.  Their  trade  now  is  unlimited,  and  cov- 
ers every  State  and  Territory  in  the  West 
and  Northwest,  and  as  it  is  constantly  in- 
creasing and  assuming  proportions  second 
to  none  in  this  line,  they  naturally  wield  a 
wide  influence  and  enjoy  the  rich  harvest 
that  is  now  meted  out  to  them.  We  can 
join  with  their  many  friends  in  best  wishes 
for  a  continuance  of  their  merited  succesa 

MORRISON,  PLUMMER  Jfc  CO.. 

WHOLESALE   DBUGGISTS, 

have  steadily  increased  the  range  and  vol- 
ume of  their  wholesale  drug  trade  since  the 
organization  of  the  firm  in  1876,  until  they 
have  become  one  of  the  leading-  houses  in  thia 
line. 

Robert  Morrison,  Jonathan  W.  Plummer, 
and  Leonard  A.  Lange  constitute  the  firm 
which,  in  addition  to  its  business  as  import- 
ers and  wholesalers  of  drugs  and  druggists' 
stock,  does  a  large  and  growing  trade  in 
manufacturing  a  general  line  of  pharma- 
ceutical preparations, which,owing  to  quality 
and  price,  are  rapidlv  finding  favor  with  their 
customers.  Tui-  tirm,  like  many  other  of  our 
leading  houses  in  the  different  trades,  have 
built  themselves  up  on  their  own  merits,  in- 
tegrity, and  enterprise  being  the  fundamental 
principles,  and  coupled  with  the  most  assid- 
uous study  of  the  trade  and  the  wants  of  the 
people,  have  made  their  goods  almost  a  ne- 
cessity and  very  popular.  Ketail  druggist- 
are  invited  to  send"  for  their  new  pharmas 
ceutical  list 

HENRY  W.  KING  &  CO. 

OLDEST  JOBBING  CLOTHING  HOUSE. 

The  clothing  business  has  become  so  im- 
portant in  this  day  and  generation  that  it 
must  demand  particular  aud  •arefal  at- 
tention. Tears  of  labor  aad  great 


are  invested,  and  extensive  stocks  of  goods 
must  be  carried  that  the  wide  field  and 
diversity  of  tastes,  which  characterize  all 
communities,  may  be  satisfied.  The  large 
capital  invested  in  this  commodity,  and  the 
great  number  of  men,  women  and  children 
to  whom  it  furnishes  employment  would  be 
surprising,  if  figures  were  taken  into  con- 
sideration. 

The  house  of  Henry  W.  King  &  Co.  is  the 
oldest  jobbing  clothing  house  in  our  city, 
Mr.  King  having  began  business  in  January, 
1854,  and  continuing  ever  since  with  but 
two  changes  in  style  of  firm.  Within  the 
past  few  years  this  house  has  established,  in 
addition  to  its  wholesale  business,  retail 
stores  in  several  cities  outside  of  Chicago. 
Among  them  may  be  mentioned  Mil- 
waukee, Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis,  all  of 
which  are  conducting  business  under  the 
name  of  ohe  Golden  Eagle  Clothing  Store, 
each  having  an  experienced  manager  in 
charge.  In  tne  different  cities  where  these 
branch  houses  are  located  they  are  without 
a  single  exceptioa,  doing  the  leading  business 
in  their  line  of  trade.  ~  Therefore,  when  we 
state  that  the  house  of  Henry  W.  King  &Co.  is 
doing  a  large  and  prosperous  business,  and 
stands  high  in  the  commercial  world,  we  sim- 
ply state  facts. 

JONES  &  LAUGHL1NS,  LIMITED. 

IBON  MEBCHANTS. 

Among  the  changes  of  the  year,  we  notice 
that  the  business  so  long  conducted  by  the 
firm  of  Jones  &  Laughlins  has  been  incor- 
porated with  the  above  style.  There  is  no 
change  in  the  interests  or  management, 
either  at  the  mills  in  Pittsburg  or  at  the 
warehouse  and  office  in  Chicago. 

They  report  the  business  of  the  year  greater 
in  volume  than  previous  years,  but  prices 
have  been  low,  and  for  some  articles  not  re- 
munerative. The  quality  of  the  goods 
manufactured  by  them,  and  their  reputation 
for  excellence,  have  given  them  their  full 
share  of  trade.  In  cold  rolled  shafting  and 
fittings,  the  sales  have  been  much  larger 
than  former  years. 

Their  warehouse  in  this  city  contains  a 
complete  assortment  of  American  refined, 
Glair,  Norway,  and  Low  Moor  bar  iron, 
American,  Eussia,  and  planished  sheet  iron, 
steel,  nails,  spikes  and  chains.  Their  stock  is 
the  most  extensive  of  its  kind  in  the  United 
States,  and  embracing  as  it  does  all  the  sizes 
of  iron  used  in  the  construction  of  cars  and 
locomotives,  is  a  valuable  source  of  supply 
for  railways. 

Their  friends  will  be  welcomed  on  all  occa- 
sions. 

CLAPP    &    DAVIES. 

WHOLESALE   JEWELBY. 

At  Nos.  63  and  65  Washington  street  is 
eminently  a  Chicago  firm  of  old  established 
reputation,  well  and  favorably  known 
throughout  the  country.  The  individual 
members  of  the  firm  are  Mr.  Caleb  Clapp  and 
Mr.  Thomas  Daviea  They  conduct  the 
wholesale  jewelry  business  in  all  its 
«rt  Nos.  93  and  65  Washington 


CHICAGO'S  FIKST  HALF  CENTUBY. 


91 


street,  carrying  at  all  times  a  large  and  ex- 
cellently assorted  stock  of  fine,  medium,  and 
fair  quality  goods,  and  also  affording  ample 
opportunity  for  the  selection  of  high-priced 
goods.  They  also  carry  a  full  line  of  Wal- 
tham,  Elgin,  and  other  watches.  During  the 
last  year  the  firm  have  enjoyed  an  excellent 
trade,  and  have  sold  goods  in  territory  which 
they  have  not  covered  heretofore.  They  at- 
tend promptly  to  all  mail  orders,  and  cus- 
tomers have  sufficient  confidence  in  the  per- 
sonal ability  and  judgment  of  Messrs.  Clapp 
&  Dnvies  to  entrust  them  with  the  eclectic  q  of 
goods.  Their  prices  are  as  low  as  consistent, 
when  the  quality  is  considered,  and  they  buy 
for  cash,  thus  giving  their  customers  the 
benefits  that  they  are  often  able  to  obtain 
by  having  ample  cash  assets  at  their  com- 
mand. 

CARSON,  PIRIE,  SCOTT  &  CO. 

We  present  our  readers  on  this  page  with  a 
cut  of  the  large  wholesale  dry  goods  house  of 
Carson,  Pirie,  Scott  &  Co.,  Madisom  and 
Franklin  streets.  This  firm  la  well  and  f  a- 


with  132  feet  frontage.  This  house,  estab- 
lished in  1853,  has  built  up  an  immense 
trade  in  the  specialties  of  iron,  steel,  nails, 
heavy  hardware,  carriage  hardware,  trim- 
mings, and  wood  material.  This  house  also 
supplies  extensively  blacksmiths'  machines 
of  every  description  and  of  the  latest  im- 
provement in  make,  and  all  materials  re- 
quired in  the  blacksmith  trade. 

The  house  employs  100  men  in  its 
sales  and  manufacturing  departments,  doing 
considerable  manufacturing  in  Michigan  at 
a  factory  of  its  own.  Great  credit  is  due  Mr. 
Kimbark  for  the  energy  and  superior  man- 
agement that  has  placed  his  business  on  the 
nresent  substantial  basis  and  commanding 
position  in  the  trade.  This  characteristic 
was  taxed,  and  proved  its  eminent  efficiency 
in  the  rapid  recovery  and  replacement  of  the 
damaged  parts  of  this  great  establishment  by 
their  recent  disastrous  fire.  The  wheels 
were  kept  in  motion  and  the  business  earned 
on  with  scarcely  an  hour  of  detention,  and 
they  now  announce  their  full  capacity  of 


vorably  known  throughout  the  entire  West 
as  honorable,  reliable,  enterprising,  and  en- 
ergetic merchanta  There  are  few  if  any 
houses  in  this  country  or  Europe  who  carry 
so  large  and  well  assorted  stocke  in  everv 
department  as  they  do.  In  looking  through 
their  numerous  departments  this  week  we 
found  them  quite  busy  opening  new  importa- 
tions in  laces,  embroideries,  hosiery,  linens, 
white  goods,  etc.  As  they  purchase  these 
goods  in  large  quantities  for  cash  from  man- 
ufacturers buyers  can  rely  on  getting  the 
best  values  from  them  to  be  had  anywhere  in 
this  country.  _ 

SENECA  D.  KIMBARK. 

IKON,    STEEL,    AND   HARDWARE. 

Prominent  among  the  dealers  of  the  hard- 
ware trade  and  in  iron  and  steel  supplies  in 
Chicago  is  the  above-named  firm,  now  located 
corner  of  Michigan  avesme  aad  take  strewt. 


attending  to  all  orders  in  their  usual  prompt 
manner.  Mr.  K.  reports  a  satisfactory  in- 
crease of  sales  over  former  years. 


THE    RETAIL    TRADE. 

AN    HISTORICAL    CHAPTER. 

THE  FIHST   MERCHANT  IN     CHICAGO. 

The  first  half  century  of  Chicago's  existence 
aa  a  place  draws  to  a  close  with  the  year 
1883.  The  miraculous  growth  of  the  city  is 
hardly  apparent  to  those  who  nave  made 
their  home  here  only  since  the  rebuilding  of 
the  city  after  the  great  fire  of  1871.  The 
contrast  of  the  business  to-day  and  the  busi- 
ness of  even  twenty  years  ago  is  remarkable. 
But  as  this  is  a  semi-centennial  of  the  city  a 
short  retrospect  of  its  early  commerce  is  ap- 
propriate. 

In  1833  Chicago  was  nothing  but  a  military 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALT1  UKNTOKX. 


trading  post  with  a  block-house  located  at 
the  point  where  Biver  street  and  Michigan 
avenue  unite.  There  were  no  streets,  just 
simpiT  two  roads;  one  ran  south  along  the 
lake  shore.which  is  now  Michigan  avenue ;  the 
other  ran  southwest  a  short  way  and  then 
west,  conforming  to  the  stream.  This  was 
called  Water  street  later,  and  it  proved  the 
main  road  upon  which  all  the  great  trade  of 
this  metropolis  was  built. 

THE   FIRST   STOKE. 

Philo  Carpenter  had  the  first  store  outside 
the  post  in  1833,  and  later  P.  F.  W.  Peck 
built  a  store.  Both  these  stores  were  on 
Water  street.  Carpenter's  was  near  Franklin 
street,  or  rather  where  the  road  turned  to  go 
over  the  river  at  the  point  where  Lake  street 
bridge  is  now  located. 

Peck's  store  was  on  the  corner  of  a  cross- 
road known  now  as  LaSalle  street.  These  two 
were  the  original  retail  stores,  and  wholesale, 
too,  for  that  matter,  upon  which  the  com- 
merce of  Chicago  was  founded.  They  both 
handled  general  goods,  and  obtained  their 
supplies  from  Detroit  mostly  by  water,  but 
sometimes  by  wagons  across  the  country. 

They  did  not  find  it  hard  to  dispose  of  their 
goods'  since  they  made  large  profits, 
and  as  this  became  knowu  new  stores  were 
built  by  traders  from  the  East  In  1834 
there  were  no  less  than  eight  stores  in  Chi- 
cago, and  the  village  kept  growing.  A.  G. 
Burley  opened  the  first  crockery  store,  and 
he  even  went  so  far  as  to  build  tiis  store  on 
the  new  street  or  road  just  opened,  and 
called  Lake  street.  Burley's  store  was  up 
near  the  point  where  LaSalle  street  is  now 
located. 

In  1836  the  village  had  grown  to  the  pro- 
portions of  a  town,  and  there  were  about 
fifty  stores  in  the  place.  There  were  streets 
as  far  south  as  Madison  street,  and  as  far 
north  as  Indiana  street,  with  an  extension 
on  the  West  Side  of  Lake  street  and  Ran- 
dolph street;  and  Canal  and  Clinton  streets 
were  blocked  out  also. 

JOHN  AND   JAMES   CARNEY 

were  the  large  retail  grocers,  and  were  lo- 
cated at  No.  133  Lake  street.  This  street 
had  arrived  at  the  dignity  of  numbers  in 
1837,  and  about  all  the  stores  were  located 
thereon.  In  1839  Chicago  was  a  city  of 
considerable  importance,  having  more  than 
a  hundred  stores  of  all  sorts  on  its  few 
streets,  Lake  street  being  the  main  artery  of 
trade.  Burley's  crockery  store  was  located 
at  161  Lake  street  South  Water  street  was 
the  original  street,  and  the  largest  houses 
were  located  there.  B.  A.  Berry  &  Co.  had 
the  largest  dry  goods  store  on  that  street 

Philo  Carpenter  kept  his  drug  and  station- 
ery store  at  the  old  stand  on  South  Water 
street.  Dodge  &  Tucker  had  a  large 
ship  chandlery  on  this  street.  Geonre 
Chacksfield  had  a  pretentious  grocery  store 
on  the  same  thoroughfare.  John  Fenherty 
had  the  first  fancy  thy  goods  store  on  this 
street,  near  Clark  street  ferry.  Isaac  D. 
Harmon  had  a  dry  goods  store*  on  the  same 
strest.  just  opposite  Fenherty's.  H.  O.  Stone 
had  a  grocery  and  provision  store  in  this 
street 

On  Lake  street,  however,  the  more  preten- 
tious stores  were  to  be  found.  Here  were 
located  J.  H.  Wicker,  grocer,  No.  87  Lake 
street;  B.  W.  Raymond,  general  store.  No. 
122  Lake  street — Mr.  Raymond  was  the 
Mayor;  Hobbie  &  Clark,  dry  goods.  No.  142 
Lake  street;  J.  W.  Hooker,  grocer,  No.  152 
Lake  street;  A.  Goodenow,  dry  goods.  No. 
184  Lake  street;  N.  Goold,  grocery  and  pro- 


visions, No.  155  Lake  street;  John  Went- 
worth,  editor  and  proprietor  of  the  Chicago 
Democrat,  over  W.  F.  Wheeler's  drv  goods 
store,  No.  107  Lake  street;  Ira  B.  Eddy  and 
John  Calhoun,  ironmongers  and  stove  deal- 
ers. No.  105  Lake  street;  S.  W.  Goss 
&  Co.,  dry  goods.  No.  105  Lake 
street;  8.  F.'  Gale,  book  store.  No.  159 
Lake  street;  8.  B.  Collins,  boot  and  shoe 
store,  No.  140  Lake  street;  Thomas  Church, 
grocery.  No.  Ill  Lake  street;  S.  B.  Cobb, 
saddlery  and  harness-maker.  No.  171  Lake 
street;  Ira  Couch  kept  the  Tremont  Tavern 
at  the  corner  of  Lake  and  Dearborn  streets; 
T.  B.  Carter  &  Co.,  fancy  dry  goods.  No.  118 
Lake  street. 

ON  DEAEBORN   STREET 

were  several  stores,  noticeably  A.  Follansbee, 
grocery  and  provisions;  George  F.  Foster 
and  George  A.  Robb,  grocers  and  ship  chan- 
dlers; Charles  Follansbee,  grocery;  Goodsell 
<fe  Campbell,  dry  goods  and  grocery. 

These  are  but  a  few  of  the  retail  stores  then 
located  here,  and  they  were  supplying  not 
only  the  20,000  population  of  Chicago,  but 
numerous  villages  and  farmers  for  a  circuit 
of  thirty  miles  around.  They  each  did  a  busi- 
ness of  from  $10,000  to  $200,000  a  year;  of 
course  the  line  of  goods  handled  had  much 
to  do  with  the  amount  of  business.  Their 
goods  were  still  coming  across  the  country 
by  wagon,  though  not  so  far  as  before  since 
the  railway  excended  as  far  as  Niles,  Mich. 
The  favorite  means  of  transportation  was  by 
water  from  Detroit  and  Buffalo.  But  when 
navigation  closed  the  wagon  train  was  re- 
sorted to. 

Ten  years  later,  in  1850,  Chicago  had 
reached  a  position  of  importance,  and  the 
railways  opened  up  a  field  of  commerce  for 
her  that  afforded  an  ample  opportunity  for  the 
establishment  of  large  retail  concerns. 
About  this  time  will  be  noticed  the  name  of 
Potter  Palmer,  dry  goods.  No.  137  Lake 
street;  Ross  &  Foster,  No.  169  Lake  street; 
J.  B.  Shay.  No.  102  Lake  street;  Fitch  & 
Hewes.  No.  82  Lake  street;  all  ot  these 
were 

LARGE  RETATL  DRY  GOODS   HOUSES, 

each  doing  more  than  a  million  dollars  worth 
of  business.  The  drug  trade  too  had  some 
well-known  names  in  the  retail  list  0.  F. 
Fuller,  No.  195  Lake  street;  Honore 
&  Co.,  No.  200  Lake  street;  F.  A. 
Bryan,  No.  2  Tremont  House: 
M.  Jerome,  corner  of  Clark  and  Adams 
streets,  where  the  Custom  House  now  stands; 
J.  H.  Reed  &  Co.,  No.  14  i  Luke  street. 
Among  the  retail  grocers  of  that  time  were: 
Henry  Sayrs,  Xos.  ,">4  and  50  State  street;  W. 
F.  McLauirhliu,  corner  of  State  and  Madison 
streets;  Henry  Schoelkopf,  corner  Washing- 
ton and  Wells  streets. 

The  commerce  of  Chicago  gradually  in- 
creased with  each  new  railroad  that  con- 
nected her  with  the  Norttiwest.  The  civil 
war  had  much  to  do  with  the  prosperity  of 
trade  in  Chicago.  Fortunes  were  made  in  a 
short  time,  and  the  commerce  of  the  city 
was  something  wonderful  to  the  merchants 
of  the  East  who  came  here. 

In  1865  Chicago's  marts  of  commerce  pre- 
sented as  busy  an  appearance  as  they  do  to- 
day. The  war  was  over,  and  the  city  was 
filled  with  soldiers  who  were  mustered  out 
and  paid  off.  The  retail  stores  reaped  a 
golden  harvest.  Lake  street,  from  end  to 
end,  was  like  the  State  street  of  to-day.  The 
retail  dry  g-oods  nouses  were  Putney.  Knight 
&  Hamlin,  No.  105  Lake  street;  Ross  &  Go s- 
sage,  No.  167  Lake  street;  J.  B.  Shay  &  Co. 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


93 


No.  163  Lake  street:  Simpson  &  Hughes,  No. 
181  Lake  street:  A.  G.  Downs  &  Co.,  No.  150 
Lake  street.  There  were  some  large  retail 
grocers,  such  as  Stanton  &  Co.,  No.  135  Lake 
street;  H.  C.  Champion  &  Co.,  No.  9  Clark 
street;  L.  D.  Boone  &  Co.,  No.  164  State 
street;  Taylor,  Watson  &  Co. .  No.  10  LaSalle 
street.  The  leading  retail  druggists  of  that 
date  were  George  Buck,  No.  93  Clark  street; 
Bliss  &  Sharp,  No.  144  Lake  street;  Gale  & 
Blocki,  No.  202  Randolph  street. 

From  the  localities  above  named  the  course 
of  the  retail  trade  of  this  city  may  be  readily 
traced.  The  names  of  most  of  the  firms  are 
no  longer  familiar  to  the  public,  but  from 
most  of  these  firms  do  many  of  the  present 
magnificent  establishments  date  their  exist- 


I'HE  HOUSE   OF   A  MERCHANT   PRINCE 

A   SKETCH  OF   S.    GUT  SKA. 

The  youngest  and  in  many  respects  the 
most  remarkable  of  Chicago's  merchant 
princes  is  Mr.  S.  Guy  Sea,  whose  name  has 
not  been  before  the  public  for  many  years, 
but  is  already  a  familiar  household  word, 
and  is  known  to  every  lady  shopper  in  the 
Northwest.  To  strangers  who  visft  the  city 
Sea's  store  is  as  much  an  object  of  interest 
as  the  waterworks  or  the  parks,  and  they  go 
there  to  look  and  listen  if  not  to  buy.  Dur- 
ing fair  times,  and  when  excursions  are  daily 
coming  into  the  city  from  all  parts  of  the 
Northwest,  one  can  see  a  constant  procession 
of  lion-hunters  passing  in  and  out  of  the 
wide  doors  that  open  into  the  store  from 
State  street.  As  the  poet  said  of  the  waves 
of  another  sea — 

They  come  and  go  incessant. 

During  holiday  times,  and  in  the  days  of 
heavy  fall  and  spring  trading,  when  Sea  gets 
in  ne'w  stocks  of  goods,  or  when  he  is  offer- 
ing some  famous  specialty  from  his  counters, 
the  throng  is  so  great  that  policemen  have 
to  be  stationed  at  the  entrance  to  turn  the 
ebbing  and  the  flowing  tide  of  humanity  into 
the  proper  channels,  or  there  would  be  a 
blockade  and  a  crush  of  people  packed  as 
closely  as  sardines.  But  "Sea  looks  out  for 
all  this,  and  the  stentorian  voice  of  his  usher 
is  heard  above  the  confusion,  shouting: 

"Keep  to  the  right,  ladies,  keep  to  the 
right." 

This  is  good  advice  in  any  place,  under  all 
circumstances,  and  if  Mr.  Sea  would  have  it 
painted  on  a  large  placard,  and  placed  in  a 
conspicuous  position,  it  might  be  the  means 
of  diverting  some  poor  creature  from  the 
wrong  way  in  the  outer  world  as  well  as  in 
his  mammoth  store. 

But  this  article  did  not  start  out  to  be  a 
song  or  a  sermon, but  was  intended  to  present 
a  fe\v  facts  relating  to  the  remarkable  life 
and  astonishing  success  of  Chicago's  young- 
est merchant.  He  is  the  typical  Chicago 
man;  very  young  and  very  "energetic,  and 
the  story'of  his  success  is  simply  a  parallel 
to  the  growth  and  development  of  Chicago. 
No  man  among  the  entire  600,000  people 
who  go  to  make  up  this  city  could  be  se- 
lected to  better  represent  the  go-ahead-and- 
get- the -business  style  of  Chicago  than  S. 
Guy  Sea. 

Mr.  Sea  commenced  his  business  life  thir- 
teen years  ago,  and,  though  then  but  14 
years'  of  asre,  had  been  well  grounded  in  not 
onlv  the  rudimentary  branches,  but  in  the 
higher  mathematics  and  the  languages.  At 


18  we  find  him  in  New  York  as  buyer  for 
Carson,  Pirie,  Scott  &  Co. ,  of  this  city,  and 
was  known  as  the  ''boy  buyer,  whom  no 
quantity  staggers  if  the  price  suits  him." 
Leaving  business  against  the  wish  and 
advice  of  his  employers,  he  spent 
his  20th  year  at  Racine  College,  but  his  was 
too  nervous  and  active  a  temperament  for  a 
scholastic  life,  and  at  the  close  of  that  year, 
original  and  peculiar  advertisements  at- 
tracted much  attention  and  comment.  They 
were  signed  "Sea,  State  Street,"  and  Mr.  Sea 
may  be  said  to  have  inaugurated  that  lavish 
display  advertising  that  has  since  become  a 
necessity  of  mercantile  success.  Meanwhile 
Sea  has  become  a  merchant  prince.  Like  the 
beanstalk  of  Jack  the  Giant  Killer,  Sea's 
business  grew  almost  in  a  single  night,  and 
became  greater  and  greater  so  rapidly  that 
he  was  an  active  even  competitor  with  the 
other  merchandising  firms  before  they  knew 
he  was  in  the  race.  It  has  required  but  seven 
years  to  build  up  the  great  trade  he  now 
commands,  and  to  acquire  the  enormous 
capital  that  stands  behind  his  two  concerns 
in  this  city  and  the  one  in  Minneapolis  His 
sales  in  a  sinerle  day  often  reach  $30.000, 
and  his  business  of  1883  was  a  third  greater 
than  that  of  1882.  His  annual  holiday  bazar 
is  an  established  feature,  and  at  Fourth  of 
July  time  the  demand  for  his  goods  compels 
him  to  open  branches  in  all  parts  of  the  city. 

Sea's  Minneapolis  store,  which  he  pur- 
chased last  October,  is  his  latest  enterprise, 
and  it  occupies  an  entire  block,  with  a  front- 
age of  272  feet.  The  moment  his  name  was 
announced  as  proprietor,  the  store  at  once 
took  the  leading  position  in  Minneapolis,  its 
sales  being  more  than  double  those  of  any 
retail  house  there,  and  three  times  greater 
than  Sea  himself  had  expected. 

There  is  a  moral  to  all  stories,  and  there  is 
a  very  striking  and  emphatic  one  to  the 
story  of  Sea's  success.  People  will  ask, 

"Upon  what  meat  hath  this  our  Caesar  fed, 

That  he  hath  grown  so  great," 
and  the  answer  is  truthful — advertising. 
Sea  knows  what  the  people  want,  he  gets  it, 
tells  them  that  he  has  it,  and  sells  it  to  them 
cheaper  than  they  can  get  it  any  where  else. 
The  public  look  for  Sea's  advertisements  in 
the  newspapers  each  day  as  tuey  look  for  the 
telegraph  dispatches,  and  they  fiud  a  list  of 
articles  for  sale  with  the  prices  attached. 
They  make  a  list  of  such  articles  as  they  de- 
sire to  buy  and  go  to  Sea's  counter  and  get 
the  goods'  saving  time,  money,  and  the  .wear 
and  tear  of  mind  that  they  have  to  endure 
in  other  stores.  It  is  this  system  of  adver- 
tising that  has  made  Soa  successful.  He  be- 
lieves in  selling  a  large  quantity  of  goods 
with  small  profits,  rather  than  a  small 
quantity  at  large  profits,  and  using  printers' 
ink  to  tell  people  so. 

"THE  FAIR." 

LEHMANN'S  IMMENSE    "STOBE"   THE   LARGEST 

IN  THIS  CITY. 

There  is  but  one  place  of  the  kind  in  the 
world  and  that  is  "The  Fair,"  owned,  con- 
trolled, and  managed  by  Mr.  E.  J.  Lehmann. 
There  is  probably  not  an  intelligent  man  or 
woman  in  this  city,  and  but  very  few  who 
read  the  papers  outside  of  Chicago,  but  who 
know  where  Mr.  Lehmann's  immense  store  is 
located— State,  Adams,  and  Dearborn  streets. 
Although  covering-  more  ground  than  any 
other  "store"  io  this  city  his  quarters  are  «*•« 


94 


CHICAGO'S  FIBST  HALT  CENTURY. 


tirely  too  small  for  his  great  business,  and 
Chicago  may  awaken  any  morning  to  learn 
that  Lehmann  has  let  contracts  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  largest  business  building  in 
the  city. 

"The  Fair"  is  all  that  the  name  implies,  for 
everything  from  a  cambric  needle  to  the 
largest  article  of  a  portable  character  can  be 
obtained  there.  In  fact,  "The  Fair"  has 
grown  to  be  the  most  wonderful  enterprise 
in  the  Northwest,  and  no  visitor  has  "gone 
the  rounds"  or  '  -done  the  town"  unless  hav- 
ing paid  his  or  her  respects  to  Mr.  Lehmann. 
The  success  of  this  institution,  for  it  is  noth- 
ing more  nor  less,  is  due  to  several  causes, 
principally  owing  to  the  proprietor's  knowl- 
edge of  the  business,  his  push,  and  his  manner 
of  advertising.  With  one  or  two  possible  excep- 
tions he  is  said  to  have  the  faculty  of  putting 
his  advertisements  in  such  a  shape  as  to 
compel  even  his  competitors  to  read  them, 
and  to  an  extent  of  forcing  them  to  copy 
after  him.  Having  secured  the  crowds  by 
legitimate  methods, 

HE   CARRIES  OUT  HIS    PROMISES 

by  selling  them  goods  at  prices  which  seem 
ruinous.  He  is  enabled  to  do  this  by  pur- 
chasing in  enormous  quantities  and  turning 
his  money  at  a  rapid  rate.  Goods  that  would 
lie  for  months  in  some  houses  are  taken  in 
the  back  door  at  "The  Fair"  in  bulk,  dis- 
tributed to  their  respective  departments,  and 
carried  out  of  the  front  entrances  in  the  arms 
of  customers  in  the  space  of  a  few  houra 
The  system  established  for  the  convenience 
of  supplying  immense  crowds  of  people  is 
something  marvelous.  His  diminutive  city 
of  merchandise  is  divided  into  about  forty 
departments,  and  ne  employs  at  least  500 
people. 

It  has  only  been  a  few  years  since  Mr.  Leh- 
mann launched  out  so  extensively,  and  yet 
his  success  is  the  most  striking  that  was  ever 
known  in  this  country.  To-day  he  is  climb- 
ing rapidly  to  great  wealth,  and  being  a 
young  man  by  a  large  majority,  it  would 
seem  that  before  his  hair  is  strewn  with  the 
inevitable  silvery  threads  he  will  be  one  of 
Chicago's  wealthiest  and  most  influential 
citizens. 

THE    BEE-HIVE. 

A  PHENOMENAL  SUCCESS  FROM  THE  STAB". 

The  Bee  Hive  was  started  at  Nos.  174  aud 
176  State  street  last  April,  and  has  met  with 
phenomenal  success.  The  firm  enlisted  in 
this  enterprise  includes  Maximilian  Morgen- 
thau,  Gustav  Morgenthau,  Jacob  H  Bauland. 
and  Joseph  H.  Bauland.  The  store  front 
displays  a  titanic  show  of  windows,  the  fur- 
nishings of  which  catch  the  eye  and  tickle 
the  fancy,  the  unique  sign  surmounting 
them  showing  for  a  center-piece  a  large 
golden  bee-hive.  The  interior  of  the  store 
rea'izes  '.he  claim  of  the  trade-mark,  for  it  is 
a  veritable  hive,  where  the  public  seek  the 
honey  of  bargains,  and  business  is  brisk  from 
early  morning  until  evening. 

This  firm  believe  in  quick  sales  and  small 
profits,  and  by  doing  a  strictly  cash  business 
are  enabled  to  sell  goods  at  bottom  prices,  in 
some  lines  underselling  the  wholesale  trade. 
Millinery  forms  a  large  and  lucrative  portion 
of  the  business,  drawing  a  large  out-of-town 
trade.  The  firm  claim  in  this  stock  to  com- 
pete with  wholesale  houses. 

The  basement  of  the  building  presents  a 


display  of  china,  glassware,  and  house- 
furnishings.  The  first  floor  of  the  store  is  as 
well  arranged  for  the  comfort  of  patrons  as 
it  is  tor  the  display  of  goods.  Its  departments 
comprise  dress  goods,  silks,  gloves,  hosiery, 
and  fancy  goods.  By  an  easy  flight  of  stairs 
or  capacious  elevator  one  may  ascend  to  the 
second  floor,  where  there  is  a  large  display  of 
millinery,  cloaks,  suits,  corsets,  and  under- 
wear. The  third  floor  is  devoted  to  carpets, 
upholstery,  shoes,  and  boys'  clothing.  The 
upper  floor  is  devoted  to  the  wholesale  depart- 
ment and  offices. 

The  store  is  supplied  with  a  corps  of  com- 
petent and  agreeable  lady  clerks,  and  the  ex- 
cellent facilities  of  the  establishment  please 
patrons  as  well  as  the  sroods  they  receive  for 
value  received.  The  Bee  Hive  promises  to 
be  busy  both  winter  and  summer,  and  make 
progressive  growth  in  accord  with  its  patron- 
age. 

F.  SZEGEL  &  BROTHERS. 


This  well  known  and  enterprising  firm  are 
engaged  in  the  manufacture,  importation, 
and  sale  of  cloaks  and  suits.  They  are  located 
in  the  new  Robert  Law  Building,  at  numbers 
126.  128,  130,  and  132  Market  street.  The 
above  cut  represents  the  beautiful  building 
they  occupy,  the  interior  of  which  is  fin- 
ished in  light  woods,  which  gives  it  a  fine  ap- 
pearance. In  this  building  are  employed  by 
this  firm  from  400  to  500  hands,  whose  pay 
roll  amounts  to  from  $150,000  to  $200,000 
per  annum.  Over  40,000  square  feet  of  floor 
room  is  occupied  by  this  firm.  Their  ma- 
chinery is  all  run  by  steam,  thus  relieving 
their  operatives  of  much  fatiguing  and  hurt- 
ful labor.  This  house  manufacture  all  classes 
of  goods  in  this  line,  from  the  cheapest  to  the 
most  expensive.  They  are  said  to  be  the 
heaviest  importers  of  this  class  of  goods  in 
the  West.  Ten  traveling  salesmen  are  em- 
ployed, who  travel  from  Pennsylvania  to 
California.  Large  sales  are  made  by  them  on 
the  Pacific  coast.  This  firm  commenced  bus- 
iness here  eight  years  ago,  and  since 
that  time  it  has  been  constantly 
increasing  and  expanding  year  by  year,  until 
the  business  of  1883  will "  not  fall  far  short 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


95 


of  $1,000,000.  Every  article  purchased 
from  which  their  goods  are  manufactured  is 
bought  at  the  lowest  possible  price,  and  their 
business  is  managed  in  a  careful  and  judi- 
cious manner,  so  that  the  goods  when  placed 
upon  the  market  are  offered  at  the  lowest 
possible  price,  while  the  class  of  goods  are 
said  to  be  unexcelled  for  the  price  charged 
for  them.  During  the  years  they  have  been 
engaged  in  business,  they  have  given  tneir 
customers  splendid  satisfaction,  and  the  con- 
sequence is  they  seldom  loose  a  customer 
when  his  trade  has  once  been  secured.  In 
the  commercial  fields  the  firm  of  F.  Siegel  & 
Brothers  stand  high,  and  have  the  confidence 
of  all.  The  srentlemen  comprising  this  firm 
are  all  young  men,  the  oldest  member  being: 
less  than  36  years  of  age.  They  have  all 
had  a  thorough  experience  in  the  business, 
and,  therefore,  rank  among  the  successful 
merchants  of  Chicago. 

PARDRIDGE'S      EMPORIUM. 

THE  GREAT  CASH  RETAIL  STORE  OF  STATE  STREET. 

When  the  writer  approacned  Mr.  M.  J.  Mc- 
Clellan,  one  of  the  managers  for  C.  W.  &  E. 
Pardridge,  he  found  that  gentleman  full  of 
business,  but  ready  to  give  THE  INTER  OCEAN 
readers  some  account  of  the  trade  for  1883. 
This  house,  as  is  well-known,  !•  among  the 
survivors  of  the  great  fire — organizing  imme- 
diately after  that  event,  and  proceeding  at 
once  to  business.  Pardridge  Brothers, 
possessing  unlimited  financial  resources, 
have  adopted,  and  strictly  adhere  to,  the  cash 
system — both  respecting  purchases  and  sales. 
They  own  the  property,  a  handsome  five-story 
building,  covering  the  three  numbers,  112, 
114.  and  116  State  street — an  advantage  en- 
joyed by  but  few  houses  in  this  city.  Doing 
business  on  a  cash  basis  and  having  no  ex- 
orbitant rents  to  pay,  it  is  plain  to  be  seen 
that  they  are  in  a  position,  if  they  so  desire, 
to  take  advantage  of  competitors,  and  put 
goods  upon  the  market  at  prices  that  would 
be  ruinous  to  some.  They  are  very  liberal 
with  their  trade,  accommodating  customers 
by  cheerfully  exchanging  goods,  and  are 
studiously  careful  that  no  attache  of  the 
place  is  allowed  to  make  misrepresentations 
in  order  to  complete  a  sale. 

WHAT   LINE  OF   GOODS  THEY  HANDLE. 

The  Pardridges  are  importers  and  dealers 
in  dry  goods,  fancy  goods,  carpets,  millinery, 
etc. ,  and  carry  a  stock  running  up  into  the 
hundreds  of  thousands.  They  make  a  spe- 
cialty of  promptly  executing'  orders  for 
samples,  and  people  a  thousand  miles  rrom 
Chicago  can  purchase  goods  to  as  great  an 
advantage  as  those  who  walk  in  and  trade 
over  the  counter.  Their  magnificent  display 
in  their  front  windows,  in  the  minds  of  the 
best  judges,  has  been,  for  the  past  six  months, 
the  finest  in  the  city. 

Regarding  the  sales,  considering  the  vari- 
ous drawbacks  in  the  way  of  bad  weather, 
etc. ,  they  correspond  favorably  with  1882, 
while  the  aggregate  profits,  under  a  change 
of  management,  are  above  those  of  any  pre- 
vious year,  which,  after  all,  IK  the  key  note 


to  absolute  sneeess.  Altogether,  there  Is  not 
a  house  in  this  city  that  can  show  a  better 
record,  or  on.e  which  has  brighter  prospects 
for  1884.  _ 

GILES  BROTHERS  &  CO., 


FOR 
An  ti  -Magnetic 

SHIELD 

FOB 

W«tch    More- 


the  well-known  jewelers,  are  still  increasing 
their  business  in  both  the  wholesale  and  re- 
tail departments,  and  supply  the  jewelry 
trade  from  the  Alleghanies  to  the  Pacific. 
The  three  medals  for  superiority  in  watches, 
awarded  by  the  greatest  exposition  for  rail- 
way appliances  ever  held  anywhere,  were 
won  by  Giles,  Bro.  &  Co.,  and  it  is  an  indis- 
putable fact  that  no  house  in  the  world  sur- 


passes  theirs  In  this  respect  These  three 
medals  are  represented  here,  and  they  con- 
stitute, without  a  doubt,  the  highest  honors 
that  a  watchmaker  can  obtain.  They  have 
added 

A  NEW  INDUSTRY 

to  the  manufacturing  interests  of  Chicago  in 
tha  shape  of  a  diamond-cutting  department 


06 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTDBZ. 


They  certainly  deserve  great  credit  for  their 
enterprise.     This  is  the  only  establishment  of 


the  kind  in  the  West,  and  has  been  seldom  at- 
tempted outside  of  the  old  hereditary  dia- 
mond-cutting establishments  of  Amsterdam. 
They  import  their  rough  diamonds  free  of 
duty,  and  by  using  the  best  labor-saving 
machinery,  are  able  to  offer  their  patrons 
the  benefit  of  first  cost  prices.  Giles  Brothers 
&  Co.  employ  over  100  hands,  and  their 
stock  runs  up  into  the  millions. 

WM.  M.  DALE, 

THE  POPULAB  DEUGGIST. 

Corner  Clark  and  Madison  streets,  and  75 
State  street  This  gentleman  occupies  such 
a  commanding  place  in  the  retail  drug  trade 
of  Chicago  as  few  merchants  achieve  in  a 
city  of  such  size  and  so  cosmopolitan  in  cha  r- 
acter.  His  motto,  "In  Medicia  Puritas,  in 
Compositione  Veritas,"  a  very  free  transla- 
tion of  which  would  be,  "Pure  Drugs  Com- 
pounded with  Fidelity,"  has  been  so  consist 
ently  carried  out  in  his  business  that  when  a 
difficult  prescription  or  rare  drug  is  demanded 
every  one  sends  to  Dale.  For  something 
over  twenty  years  Mr.  Dale  has  been  en- 
gaged in  the  retail  drug  business  in  this  city, 
and  the  popularity  which  he  enjoys  is  well 
and  honorably  earned.  The  new  store  which 
Mr.  D.  has  recently  opened  at  No.  75  State 
street  is  an  ornament  to  that  thoroughfare, 
and  will  be  quite  a  convenience  to  his  lady 
patrons,  who  can  thus  avoid  the  crowded 
corner  of  Clark  and  Madison  streets. 

It  is  an  item  of  vital  importance  that  too 
many  ignore,  in  having  their  prescriptions 
in  thoroughly  competent  hands,  and  for  the 
indorsement,  of  this  house  in  their  accuracy 
and  reliance  their  growing  and  extensive 
patronage  but  bespeaks. 

K.  BURNHAJVl, 

THE    HAIK    DEALEB. 

71  State  street  The  gentleman  whose  name 
appears  in  the  above  heading,although  young 
in  years,  has  shown  an  aptness  for  business 
which  has  placed  him  in  the  front  in  the  line 
of  hair  goods  and  all  the  novelties,  tools,  etc., 
which  come  under  the  head  of  this  business. 


He  imports  all  his  own  goods  and  does  an 
extensive  wholesale  business.  He  established 
himself  in  this  city  in  1871,  and  by  his  en- 
terprise has  built  up  a  trade  of  which  he  can 
justly  feel  proud.  'His  customers  are  from 
among  the  best  ladies  in  the  city.  In  addi- 
tion to  his  retail  business  he  has  a  wholesale 
department  and  factory  at  No.  6  East  Wash- 
ington street,  occupying  two  large  floors, 
where  he  employs  about  eighty  hands. 

M.    THOMK. 

Will  supply  the  hair  trade  at  his  wholesale 
Hair  Depot  at  148  State  street  Send  for 
price  list 

J.  W.  GRISWOLD  &  CO., 

244  AND  246  MONBOE  STEEET. 

This  firm  are  manufacturers  and  importers 
of  cloaks,  suits,  cloakings  and  trimmings. 
They  have  been  engaged  in  the  business  for 
over  thirty  years,  and  are  therefore  one  of 
the  oldest  houses  in  the  West  During:  the 
busy  season  600  hands  are  employed,  who 
prepare  for  the  market  a  large  and  varied 
class  of  goods  in  this  line  which  are  sold  in 
various  parts  of  the  West  and  Northwest. 
The  firm  report  this  one  of  the  most  pros- 
perous years  in  the  history  of  their  business. 
Nos.  244  and  246  Monroe  street  is  their 
locatiou. 

SAFES  AND  SCALES. 


HALL'S  SAFE  A>'1)  LOCK  COMPANY. 

PEBFECT   SECUEITT. 

The  devastation  of  the  elements  and  the 
criminal  enterprise  and  ingenuity  of  the  mid- 
night thief  constantly  jeopardize  and  menace 
the  security  of  capital.  No  desideratum, 
therefore,  is  of  greater  importance  to  the 
merchant  and  banker  than  knowledge  of  the 
fact  that  their  possessions  are  in  absolute 
safety.  This  certain  assurance  can  be  met 
with  in  the  thoroughly  reliable  fire  and 
burglar  proof  safes  manufactured  by  the 
Hall  Safe  and  Lock  Company. 

For  thirty-six  years  Mr.  Joseph  L.  Hall,  the 
President  of  the  company,  has  been  earnestly 
engaged  in  studying  and  perfecting  their 
safes  and  locks,  over  300  patents  having 
been  granted  to  him  by  the  United  States 
Government  His  efforts  have  been  crowned 
with  marked  and  triumphant  success,  and 
the  reward  of  superiority  has  long  been 
unanimously  awarded  to  their  products. 

Among  the  leading  and  vital  features  of 
merit  which  place  their  safes  so  pre-emi- 
nently above  those  of  all  competitors  may  be 
mentioned  their  system  of  dovn-tailing  the 
plates  around  the  edges  of  the  door,  superior 
bolt  work,  the  patent  traverse  and  cant  hinge, 
solid  steel  bent  or  angle  wrnrrx,  tight  and 
compact  joint*,  constructing  the  walls  of 
alternate  plates  of  iron  and  carbonized  steel, 
detached  eccentric  arbor,  patent  concrete 
filling,  and  many  other  important  points  of 
great  value. 

All  their  safes  and  looks  are  simple  in  con- 
struction, elegant  in  finish,  easi-y  operated, 
and  combine  in  the  highest  degree  beauty, 
utility,  and  strength  (.the  hand  of  iron  under 
the  glove  of  silk). 

Mr.  Joseph  L.  Hall  established  the  business 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


97 


at  Cincinnati  in  1845  originally  upon  a  cap- 
ital of  $50,000.  The  company  now  have 
$800.000  invested,  and  their  works  are  the 
largest  of  their  kind  in  the  world.  The  vast 
buildings,  which  are  built  in  a  substantial 
manner  of  stone  and  brick,  coyer  eight  acres 
of  ground,  in  which  1,365  skilled  workmen 
are  employed,  who  build  sixty-five  complete 
safes  every  day;  800,000  pounds  of  iron  and 
450,000  pounds  of  steel  enter  into  the  man- 
ufacture and  are  consumed  each  month. 
Their  business  is  colossal,  branch  houses, 
each  with  a  large  stock,  being  located  at  New- 
York,  Chicago,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Pitts- 
burg,  Cleveland,  Louisville,  St."  Louis.  St. 
Paul,  Kansas  City,  Omaha,  Denver,  San 
Francisco,  and  New  Orleans. 

The  Chicago  branch,  at  No.  67  Washington 
street,  was  established  in  1867,  and  under 
the  capable  and  energetic  management  of 
C.  0.  Hall  and  J.  W.  Donnell  is  second  only  to 
the  parent  house  in  the  extent  and  "im- 
portance of  its  trade.  Any  information  de- 
sired by  bankers,  jewelers,  merchants,  and 
others  in  regard  to  their  goods  will  meet 
with  immediate  and  courteous  attention  by 
addressing  the  Chicago  house. 

B.  F.  SMITH. 

BTTRQLAB  AND   FIRE-PROOF    SAFES. 

Mr.  B.  F.  Smith,  ereneral  agent  for  Hosier, 
Bahmann  &  Co.  's  Fire  and  Burglar  Proof  Safes, 
at  No.  58  Dearborn  street,  Chicago,  III ,  rep- 
resents one  of  the  oldest  and  best  known 
safe  manufacturers  in  this  country,  with  a 
reputation  that  has  become  world-wide. 

Mosler,  Bahmann  <fe  Co.  's  goods  are  distrib- 
uted in  almost  every  city,  town,  viilage 
and  hamlet  from  Maine  to  California,  Mani- 
toba to  Mexico.  Their  product  for  the  past 
ten  years,  placed  in  a  continuous  line,  would 
reach  from  Chicago  to  Milwaukee,  a  distance 
of  ninety  miles.  They  have  made  and  sold 
more  safes  than  any  other  house  in  America. 

Their  burglar  work  has  long  borne  a  high 
reputation  and  has  been  the  trusty  custodian 
of  untold  wealth.  Their  fire  and  burglar 
proof  lined  safes,  a  new  departure,  made  for 
storing  bulky  articles,  such  as  jewelry,  etc., 
are  being  almost  universally  adopted. 

Important  improvements,  covered  by  valu- 
able patents,  have  lately  been  made  in  their 
fire-proof  safes,  which  places  them  many 
steps  in  advance  of  all  others.  Instead  of  sepa- 
rate pieces  rivited  together,  forming  square 
corners  and  panels,  as  safes  have  hitherto 
been  constructed,  in  this  the  angle  bars  and 
plates  are  each  a  separate  piece,  cut  at  first 
to  the  required  length,  then  bent  to  the 
proper  shape  with  round  corners  and  finished 
without  a  joint  The  round  corners, having  the 
principle  of  the  arch  and  being  formed  solid, 
give  the  utmost  possible  strength  to  the  ae- 
sign.  The  smooth,  unbroken  surface  on  the 
top  and  sides  allows  more  scope  for  hand- 
some decorations,  and  affords  no  opportunity 
for  dust  to  collect  and  lodge,  as  in  case  of 
panels. 

The  most  novel  feature,  however,  is  the 
lock,  susceptible  to  100.000,000  changes, 
and  so  arranged  that  when  locked  it  be- 
comes detached  from  the  bolts  and  cannot  be 
connected  without  a  knowledge  of  the  com- 
bination. Should  the  handle  be  broken  off  and 
the  spindle  driven  in,  it  would  carry  notding 
with  it,  and  its  destruction  would  not  render 
the  lock  any  the  less  secure,  thus  making  the 


the  fire-proof  safe  substantially  proof  against 
the  ordinary  thief. 

Their  public  offer  to  donate  ten  safes  to 
any  person  proving  a  single  instance  where 
these  safes  had  failed  to  preserve  their 
contents  remains  unchallenged. 

THE  CHICAGO  SCALE  COMPANY. 

RELIABLE  AND   ACCURATE. 

Probably  the  name  of  no  manufacturing 
company  is  more  familiar  to  a  greater  num- 
ber of  people  in  all  parts  of  the  country  than 
i  hat  of  the  Chicago  Scale  Company.  Being 
among  the  pioneer  manufacturers  of  the 
West,  they  have  kept  up  with  the  demands 
of  this  rapidly  growing  country,  and  are 
always  prepared  to  furnish  scales  upon  which 
to  weigh  the  immense  crops  of  grain,  the 
heads  of  cattle  and  hogs,  and  commodities  of 
all  kinds  that  must  be  weighed  to  carry  on 
the  operations  of  trade  and  exchange.  Men 
in  offices,  women  and  children,  by  weighing 
packages  for  the  mail,  ingredients  for 
cooking,  or  taking  their  first 
lessons  in  pounds  and  ounces, 
have  learned  to  associate  the  name  of  the 
manufacturers  with  the  "Little  Detective." 
The  universal  popularity  of  these  scales  is 
not  alone  due  to  the  fact  that  hundreds  of 
varieties  are  manufactured  from  the  very 
best  material,  but  that  their  system  of  doing 
business  enables  them  to  supply  their  cus- 
tomers at  one-half  the  price  any  other  con- 
cern can  who  furnish  articles  of  equal  value, 
and,  while  they  would  in  no  way  detract 
from  the  laurels  of  others,  the  numerous  ex- 
pressions of  satisfaction  at  receiving  arti- 
cles so  good  and  so  cheap,  from  men  and 
women  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  might  be 
envied  by  more  pretentious  manufacturers. 
Within  the  last  four  months  hundreds  of 
articles  have  been  added  to  their  catalogues 
which  they  either  manufacture  or  have 
manufactured  in  large  quantities  for  them, 
all  of  which  are  sold  at  correspondingly  low 
prices.  If  a  portable  forge  is  wante,d  or 
blacksmith's  tools  of  any  kind,  a  foot-power 
athe.  a  corn-sheller,  a  fanning-mili  or  a 
feed-cooker,  the  Chicago  Scale  Company  can 
supply  them,  as  well  as  one  of  the*  best 
sewing  machines  made,  which  they  are  now 
sending  out  by  hundreds  to  all  parts  of  the 
country.  Buying  material  of  all  kinds  in 
large  quantities  and  selling  for  cash,  enables 
them  to  give  the  lowest  possible  prices,  and 
by  giving  customers  the  privilege  of  return- 
ing anything  not  perfectly  satisfactory,  no 
better  warrantee  could  be  asked  from  a  com- 
pany which  is  perfectly  responsible. 

JOHN  VV.  NORRIS. 

BUBQLAR-PROOF   AND    FIRE-PROOF   SAFES. 

While  as  a  rule  all  manufacturers  are  com- 
plaining of  lack  of  customers  and  overpro- 
duction the  Western  manager  of  the  Diebold 
Safe  and  Lock  Company,  Mr.  John  W.  Norris, 
says  the  sales  of  this  concern  for  the  past 
vear  reach  fully  $2,000.000  or,  in  other 
words,  33  1-3  per  cent  more  than  the  pre- 
vious year's  business,  which  was  by  far  the 
largest  ever  done  in  the  West,  if  not  in  the 
United  States. 


CHAPTER  X. 


CHICAGO'S    INDUSTRIES. 

HISTORY  OF  HER   MANUFACTURES. 

AN  ENORMOUS  PRODUCT. 

Chicago  has  been  a  continual  surprise  to 
the  world,  and  no  part  of  her  growth  is  more 
responsible  for  this  than  that  in  manu- 
facturing. This  has  in  less  than  fifty  years 
changed  Chicago  from  a  quiet  village  to  a 
great  roaring  metropolis,  where  the  wheels 
never  cease  to  -whirl  and  hum,  and  the  streets 
are  never  quiet 

It  has  changed  Chicago  from  a  place  de- 
pendent on  the  East  for  all  its  manufactured 
articles  to  a  great  workshop,  sending  its 
products  to  every  land  under  the  sun,  and 
whose  trademarks  are  known  and  recognized 
in  everv  city  and  town  in  the  world.  And 
all  this' has 'been  as  easy  and  natural  (though 
rapid)  growth  as  is  that  of  the  plant  when 
once  the  seed  is  sown  in  good  soil. 

There  has  been  no  noise  or  confusion  about 
it,  and  never  has  Chicago  made  appeals  to  the 
outside  world  for  help  in  her  manufacturing 
enterprises,  nor  even  to  the 

PUBLIC   SPIRIT  OF   HER   OWN   CITIZENS. 

It  has  gone  steadily  along  as  the  march  of 
destinv,  and  no  financial  crisis  nor  labor  up- 
heaval has  disturbed  it.  although  the  most 
world-renowned  of  these  have  had  their  ori- 
gin and  extinction  here  in  our  midst  The 
men  who  engaged  in  manufacturing  in  Chi- 
cago went  about  it  as  they  would  to  build 
themselves  a  little  home,  with  no  other  ap- 
peal to  the  public  nor  the  corporation  than 
the  permission  to  spend  their  money  and  de- 
velop the  resources  of  the  citv  and  its  sur- 
rounding country. 

Millions  of  money  have  been  spent  here  m 
building  huge  workshops  and  filling  them 
with  costly  machinery,  and  comparatively 
few  of  even  our  own  citizens  were  aware  of 
the  fact  until  all  was  complete  and  their 
products  began  to  create  a  commotion  in  the 
business  world. 

The  unrivaled  resources  of  the  country 
immediately  tributary  to  Chicago  have  in  a 
large  measure  beenthe  cause  of  this  marvelous 
growth,  but  Chicago  has  advanced  beyond 
these  and  passed  beyond  their  confines  and 
almost  beyond  their  influence.  Now  the  raw 
material  is  brought  from  all  over  the  world 
to  here  find  the  skill  and  machinery  to  con- 
vert it  into  marketable  goods. 

THE  POINTS  OF  MANUFACTURE, 

Professor  Newberry  says,  will  be  determined 
mainly  by  economy   of   fuel     Chicago  then 


stands  without  a  rival  The  broad  prairies 
of  Illinois  and  adjoining  States  not  only 
yield  rich  harvests  for  our  granaries  and 
produce  markets,  but  down  below  the  soil 
there  is  a  harvest  of  coal  extending  for  miles 
and  miles,  stored  away  long  ages  ago,  and 
this  is  inexhaustible. 

In  the  manufacture  of  Bessemer  steel  rails. 
Cook  County  has  already  distanced  Alleghany 
County,  Pa  In  1878  that  great  center  of  the 
iron  trade  manufactured  72,286  tons  of 
Bessemer  steel  rails.  Chicago  during  the 
same  time  turned  out  123,000  tons,  and  if 
the  neighboring  county  of  Will  be  counted 
in  the  amount  would  be  increased  to 
178.000  tons,  or  33,608  tons  more 
than  twice  the  entire  production  of 
Alleghany  County.  In  that  same  year 
the  State  of  Illinois  produced  nearly  one- 
third  of  all  the  Bessemer  steel  rails  produced 
in  the  United  States. 

One  of  the  largest  "Steel  Plants"  in  the 
Union,  comprising  seven  departments,  covers 
an  area  of  twenty-nine  acres  on  the  south 
branch  of  the  Chicago  Eiver,  with  blast  fur- 
naces having  a  daily  capacity  of  330  tons. 
or  an  out-put  of  nearly  125,000  tons  of  pig 
iron  annually. 

ACCORDING  TO  CENSTS  RETURNS 

made  by  the  Census  Bureau  for  1880,  the 
greatest  number  of  hands  employed  in  man- 
ufacturing in  Chicago  was  110.819.  Now 
there  are,  according  to  statistics  from  the 
inspectors  of  manufactories.  132,893  people 
employed. 

AGRICULTURAL  IMPLEMENTS. 

The  manufacture  of  agricultural  imple- 
ments in  Chicago  has  grown  to  enormous 
proportions. 

Malt  and  malt  liquors  have  advanced  to  an 
important  place  in  the  industrial  field  here, 
add  new  inventions  and  new  methods  have 
almost  revolutionized  the  business 

The  manufacture  of  men's  and  boys'  ready- 
made  clothing  and  furnishing  goods  have  ex- 
panded until  it  is  represented  by  millions  of 
capital. 

Chicago  leather  is  known  in  all  markets. 
and  ranks  among  the  best  The  product  for 
1880  was  estimated  at  5,673,000  pounds,  of 
which  a  large  portion  was  used  in  the  make- 
up of  boots  and  shoes. 

The  carriage  and  wagon  making-,  the  sash 
and  door  manufacturing,the  box  f  actories.the 
linseed  oil,  white  lead,  paints,  lead  pipes,and 
shot  products  are  immense. 

The  box  factories  use  up  100,000,000  feet 
of  lumber,  worth  $2,000,000,  annually  in 
making  boxes  to  ship  the  products  of  our 
other  manufactories,  and  those  that  require 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


irach  packing  are  only  the  smaller  products 
of  this  great  workshop. 

AN  IDEA   OF   GROWTH. 

In  1860,  when  Chicago  began  to  attract 
attention  as  a  manufacturing  center,  there 
were  469  establishments,  employing:  5,593 
hands,  paying  9 1,992,257  for  wages  and  send- 
ng  out  $13,555,671  worth  of  products.  In 
ten  years  the  number  of  establisuments  had 
been  multiplied  by  three. 

In  1870  the  census  returns  show  there 
were  I,440establishments,employing31,105 
hands,  paying  $13,045,286  for  wages,  and 
producing  goods  valued  at  $92,518,742.  In 
1880  the  returns  show  there  were  3.752 
manufacturing  establishments,  employing 
113,507  hands,  paying  $37.615,381  in  wages 
and  producing  $253,405,695  worth  of  goods. 
And  the  compiler  of  these  figures,  Robert  P. 
Porter,  at  the  head  of  the  Industrial  Bureau 
of  the  Census  Department,  closes  his  report 
with  the  interrogation :  ''Was  ever  such  a 
rapid  rate  of  material  progress  known  else- 
where in  the  history  of  the  world?" 

The  increase  since  1880  has  been  even 
more  rapid  than  before,  and  Chicago  now 
stands  without  a  rival  in  the  iron  trade  and 
fifth  in  magnitude  among  the  manufacturing 
cities  of  the  world. 

THE   CHICAGO  METAL   FEIXOE    CO. 

INDESTRUCTIBLE  VEHICLE   WHEEL. 

This  company,  at  No.  212  Dearborn 
street,  has  recently  created  something 
of  a  sensation  by  introducing  to  the 
public  what  is  aptly  termed  an  "inde- 
structible vehicle  wheeL "  It  can  hardly  be 
described  adequately  in  the  space  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  writer,  but  it  undoubtedly  ranks 
as  one  of  the  great  practical  inventions  of  the 
age.  The  Danf ord  patent  metal  felloe  con- 
sists of  a  wrought  iron  tube  of  suitable  size 
and  shape  and  of  sufficient  length  to  circum- 
vent the  entire  wheel.  This  tube  is  filled 
with  a  continuous  piece  of  the  best  thor- 
oughly seasoned  wagon  timber,  which  is 
shaped  to  exactly  fit  the  interior  of  the  tube 
into  which  it  is  forced  by  powerful  machin- 
ery after  having  been  saturated  with 
oil.  The  felloe  thus  composed  is 
then  bent  in  a  circle  of  the 
required  size,  and  holes  for  the  spokes  are 
drilled  in  it  Each  spoke  hole  is  counter 
sunk  so  as  to  admit  the  full  size  of  the  spoke  to 
a  depth  of  from  three-eighths  to  five-eighths 
of  an  inch,  according  to  the  size  of  the  wheel 
By  this  simple,  but  effective  arrangement,  it 
is  rendered  the  next  thing  to  impossible  for 
the  spoke  tenon  to  break  oft*,  while  the 
wrought-iron  casing  of  the  felloe  renders  it 
impervious  to  wear  and  weather.  A  set  of 
wheels  constructed  upoi.  this  principle  would 
outlast  half  a  dozen  sets  built  upon  the 
ordinary  plan,  and  can  be  furnished  at  but  a 
small  additional  cost.  The  company  have 
just  completed  extensive  works  on  Fifty- 
third  street,  Chicago,  and  are  now  prep  ired 
to  till  all  orders.  Explanatory  circulars  will 
be  sent  upon  application. 

THE  tATEST  IMPROVEMENTS. 

MJLTTMORE  ELASTIC  STEEL  CAR- WHEEL  COMPACT. 

The  accompanying  illustrations,  showing 
in  sections  what  is  rapidly  becoming  a  popu- 
lar wheel  with  railroad  people,  give  a  fair 
idea  of  the  construction  of  the  Mlltimore 


elastic  steel  car-wheel.  The  patentee  and 
those  interested  with  him  are  so  well  and 
favorably  known  that  it  would  be  a  waste  of 
words  to  further  speak  of  them.  The  wheel 
itself,  which  has  already  become  a  fixed  in- 
stitution, is  the  subject  matter.  After  many 
years  of  experimenting  Mr.  Miltimore  has 
attained  the  success  so  eagerly  sought  for, 
and  has  a  substitute  for  the  old  cast-iron 
wheel  which  must  eventually  supplant,  to  a 
large  extent,  the  latter,  and  insure  the  safety 
in  transportation  by  rail  that  will  sometime 
in  the  future  make  accidents  absolutely  im- 
possible. 


Complete  wheel. 

THE  MILTIMORE   WHEEL 

IB  the  latest  improvement  in  the  rolling  stock 
of  railroad  paraphernalia,and  meets  all  argu- 
ments that  nave  been  brought  to  bear  against 
"a  new  thing."  The  one  item  of  price  alone, 
advertised  at  40  per  cent  less  than  any  other 
steel  wheel  that  will  give  equal  mileage  after 
establishing  its  durability  and  other  features 
of  excellence,  is  enough  to  recommend  it  in 
the  broadest  sense.  Certainly,  the  one  diffi- 
culty of  devising  a  perfect  center  removes 
the  great  obstacle  of  expense,  and  the 
assertion  that  this  wheel  has  a  center 
that  will  wear  out  an  indefinite 
number  of  tires  is  by  no  means  unreasonable. 
The  center  of  this  wheel,  possessing  all  the 
requisite  strength,  durability,  and  strength, 
is  also  recognized  for  its  comparative  1  ght- 
ness,  and  as  above  intimated,  its  cost  is  les- 
sened by  the  minimum  amount  of  labor  re- 
quired for  its  construction. 

CONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  WHEEL. 

The  centrifugal  pressure  from  the  axle  to  the 
rim,  which  gives  solidity,  strength,  elastic- 
ity, and  stability  of  parts,  is  maximum;  the 
centripetal  force  of  concussion  from  the  rim 
to  the  axle,  which  tends  to  disrupt  and 
destroy,  is  minimum.  To  illustrate  by  an- 
other figure  of  speech,  the  wheel  is  a  con- 
struction in  which  the  tire  is  held  to  its  work 
by  sufficient  pressure  from  the  axle  out- 
wardly, a  large  portion  of  this  pressure  being 
retained  as  reserve  strength  beyond  imme- 
diate needs,  while  the  spokes  are  so  inge- 


100 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURT. 


niously  fitted  for  thetr  double  work  of   hold- 
ing the  tire   and   distributing   the   ordinary 


Vertical  section  of  wheeL 

destructive  forces  resulting  from  concussion 
tbat  the  deterioration  of  the  strength  of 
metal  is  very  slight  during  the  longest  ser- 
vice. The  tire  is  2^  inches  thick,  4  inches 
thick  on  the  back,  and  51*5  inches 
wide.  The  spokes  are  4  inches 
wide  and  1  inch  thick,  and  the  hub  plates 
are  19  inches  in  diameter.  These 
dimensions  of  parts  are  based  on  the  scale  of 
the  standard  thirty-three-inch  wheel,  and 
gives  an  idea  of  the  strength  and  massive- 
ness  of  the  construction. 


Wheel,  with  portion  of  hub-plate  removed. 
These  wheels  are  in  use  on  a  large  number 
of  the  best  railroads  in  the  United  States, 


and  orders  are  coming1  in  too  rapidly  to  be 
filled.  Extensive  works  are  now  being 
erected  at  Chicago  in  the  suburb  of  Pennock, 
and  when  completed  will  eclipse  anything  of 
the  kind  in  the  country.  The  general  offices 
are  at  51  and  53  Dearborn  street,  Chicago, 
and  the  officers  are  as  follows:  President, 
Homer  Pennock:  Vice  President  and  General 
Manager,  G.  W.  Mil ti more;  Secretary  and 
Managing  Director,  D wight  K.  Tripp. 

GERTS.    IiUMBARD    &    CO., 

BBUSH   MANOFACTUREKS. 

This  old  and  reliable  house,  established 
over  thirty  years  ago,  have  large  warerooms 
at  Nos.  204  and  206  Randolph  street  and 
their  factory  at  the  corner  of  Hoyne  avenue 
and  West  Indiana  street,  where  they  employ  a 
large  force  making  all  kinds  of  brushes,  from 
the  best  painters'  and  varnishers'  brushes  to 
the  finest  solid-back  hair  brushes,  of  which 
they  are  the  only  manufacturers  in  this 
country.  _ 

SMOKE  PREVENTION. 

A  PEEFECT   DEVICE   AT  LAST. 

A  successful  smoke-consumer — one  that 
consumed  smoke  and  did  not  consume  pro- 
fits, directly  or  indirectly,  at  the  same  time — 
has  been  a  much  sought  for  blessing  for 
many  years.  Innumerable  smoke-consumers 
have  been  from  time  to  time  invented  and 
patented  and  then  laid  aside  in  the  waste 
heap  of  the  impracticable  or  the  too  utterly 
expensive.  The  faults  of  these  failures  are 
numerous.  Some  of  them  have  lacked  the 
first  essential  of  a  smoke-consumer — failing 
to  consume  all  the  smoke.  A  large  number 
of  others,  accomplishing1  this  first  essential 
with  tolerable  completeness,  have  failed  in 
an  es-sential  of  almost  equal  importance — 
operating:  them  has  cost  too  much  to  the 
users,  or,  in  other  words,  has  wasted  the 
power  of  the  engines  to  which  they  have  been 
attached,  or  required  the  expenditure  of  a 
large  extra  amount  of  coal  to  counterbalance 
this  waste.  This  is  a  defect  that  touches 
the  pocket,  and  touches  it  badly,  and 
it  is  a  defect  in  every  sinoke-con- 
Butner  that  has  been  invented,  excepting 
the  one  exhibited  in  the  Exposition. 
Another  objection  common  to  all  previously 
invented  smoke-consumers  is  that  their  use 
soon  results  in  the  destruction  or  rendering 
unfit  for  service  the  boilers  of  the  machines 
to  which  they  are  attached. 

AT   THE  EXPOSITION. 

The  recently  invented  smoke-preventer  to 
which  reference  has  been  made,  and  which 
has  been  exhibited  by  Mr.  Charles  Smith, 
its  inventor,  in  the  Exposition,  where  it  daily 

E roved  its  merits  by  the  test  of  trial,  is  free 
:om  all  the  above  named  defects.  This  pre- 
ventor,  to  describe  it  in  a  few  words,  is  a 
furnace  without  steam.  Its  use  requires  the 
making  of  no  holes  in  the  boiler  front,  and 
its  consequent  impairment.  It  is,  in  short,  a 
device  for  securing  the  natural  combustion 
of  smoke.  It  operates  on  the  same  plan  as  a 
kerosene  lamp  in  burning  smoke;  that  is  to 
say,  it  emits  the  air  from  the  flue-pipe  into 
the  furnace;  there  being  about  800  degrees 
of  heat  when  it  strikes  the  flue  pot.  The 
advantages  it  possesses  over  other  devices  is 
that  it  involves  the  nassage  of  no  cold 
air  over  the  fire,  the  passage  of 
which,  of  course,  reduces  the  heatiner  power 
of  the  fire.  This  advantage  results  in  a  less 


CHICAGO*    FIRST  HALF  CENTUBZ 


101 


quantity  ot  fuel  material  being1  required  than 
IB  required  when  other  consumers  are  used. 
Another  advantage  of  the  new  preventer  is 
that  it  is  perfectly  immaterial  how  hard  the 
firing'  is  done  or  how  the  fuel  is  put  in.  Still 
another  advantage  is  that  the  ash-pit  doors 
being  closed  it  shuts  the  air  off  completely 
from  the  boiler,  and  thus  saves  the"  boiler 
from  the  wearing  influence  of  cold  air;  for 
when  there  is  any  cold  air,  even  when  the 
doors  are  open,  the  result  is  damage  to  the 
boiler.  This  furnace  will  last  as  long 


as  the  boiler  itself,  for  there  is  nothing 
to  give  out  about  it.  Now,  one 
of  the  principal  defects  of  other  consumers 
is  the  use  of  steam  jets,  which  injure  the 
boiler.  It  is  desirable,  therefore,  for  the 
sake  of  the  boiler,  to  avoid  the  use  of  these 
steam  jets.  A  still  more  serious  defect  of 
these  steam-jet  smoke-consumers  is  that 
they  have  not  only  spoiled  the  boilers,  but 
have  failed  to  consume  the  smoke  to  any 
satisfactory  extent.  Steam  jets  are,  in  fact, 
impracticable,  for  the  simple  reason  that 
Bteam  having  to  be  used,  not  only  consumes 
the  smoke,  or  condenses  it,  but  consumes  the 
fire,  or,  in  other  words,  puts  it  out  to  a  cer- 
tain extent;  while  letting  in  the  cold  air,  and 
thus  lessening  the  degree  of  temperature, 
renders  necessary  the.use  of  a  proportionately 
extra  amount  of  fuel  to  counterbalance  this 
loss  of  heat. 

THE   USE   OF  WATEB  JETS. 

Secondly,  the  use  of  water  jets  has  re- 
sulted, in  a  short  time,  in  the  practical  de- 
struction of  the  ooilers.  There  is  another 
important  drawback  to  them,  and  that  is  the 
noise  they  make  by  putting  in  live  steam 
with  cold  air.  Again,  the  cold  air  has  a  ten- 
dency to  condense  the  steam  and  the  fire- 
man has  to  go  to  work  again  to  heat  up  to  a 
proper  degree  of  complete  comoustion. 
Then,  of  course,  the  steam,  if  it  is  condensed 
and  thrown  on  the  boiler  plate  in  the  form 
of  spray,  will  constantly  injure  the  boiler  by 
the  successive  expansion  and  contraction 
consequent  upon  its  being  covered  with 
spray.  Now,  a  smoke-burner,  to  be  an  ad- 
vantage and  not  a  disadvantage  to 
the  user,  should  create  as  uniform 
a  heat  as  possible,  and  should  not 
subject  the  boiler  to  any  greater  expansion 
or  contraction  than  can  be  helped,  as  such 
alternating  expansion  ana  contraction  are 
highly  detrimental  to  boiler-plate.  This  ob- 
jection is  obviated  in  Mr.  Smith's  device,  as 
no  steam  is  used  at  all.  Now,  with  other 
smoke-burners  the  fireman  has  to  regulate 
his  firing  according  to  the  device  he  uses,  or 
the  device  would  never  work  at  all,  and 
could  never  make  it  succeed  when  heavy 
firing  is  absolutely  required.  Light  firing  is 
necessary — a  sine  qua  non— for  the  at  all 
•uccessf ul  use  of  these  other  devices ;  and, 
together  with  light  firing,  it  is  necessary  to 
fixe  in  front  Then  the  valve  must  be 


opened  just  right,  and  Just  so  much 
steam  and  no  more  must  be  let  in.  If  too 
much  is  put  on,  it  will  blow  too  hard;  if  too 
little,  it  will  do  no  good  at  alL  In  short,  their 
working  requires  practice.  Firemen  must 
be  trained  for  their  special  convenience.  On 
this  account  there  is  great  prejudice  against 
these  steam  jet  burners  among  engineers,  as 
well  as  on  account  of  the  noise  they  create 
and  the  injury  to  boilers  they  cause.  It  has 
been  asserted  that  the  old  consumers  save 
fuel,  but  the  assertion  has  been  proven  to  be 
false  over  and  over  again  by  actual  testing. 
The  new  invention  makes  no  claim  in  this  di- 
rection, though  it  probably  saves  a  little 
through  the  burning  of  gas  produced  bv  com- 
bustion, which  gas  usually  escapes  through 
the  chimney  with  the  smoke  in  ordinary  fur- 
naces. The  extra  consumption  of  fuel  ren- 
dered necessary  by  the  use  of  the  old 
burners  has  been  referred  to.  It  may 
here  be  added  that  this  extra  consumption 
frequently  amounts  to  an  increase  of  fully 
25  per  cent.  Not  being  compelled  to  have 
holes  in  the  boiler  is  another  advantag  e  of 
the  new  invention,  as  this  cutting  destroys 
the  value  of  the  boiler. 

THE  ENGINEERS  LIKE  IT. 

Lastly,  the  engineers  like  it,  because  they 
cannot  help  but  like  it,  for  with  this  con- 
trivance they  can  fire  their  boilers  in  any 
way  they  like  to  do,  and  thus  they  are  saved 
the  extra  trouble  and  care  involved  in  the 
use  of  the  old  contrivances  where  jet 
streams  are  nsed.  In  this  connection  it  may 
be  added  that  in  the  use  of  the  new  con- 
trivance there  is  not  the  extra  or  special  skill 
required  in  an  engineer  that  is  needed 
in  working  the  jet  device.  It 
also  saves  the  engineer  the  la- 
bor of  keeping  his  flues  clean,  as 
the  flues  are  not  fouled  by  the  smoke ;  while, 
the  flues  being  kept  free  of  soot,  the  neces- 
sary result  is  an  increase  in  steam  power. 

To  conclude,  this  new  contrivance  has 
been  tested  in  all  conceivable  shapes,  and  it 
has  stood  these  tests  satisfactorily.  It  has 
proved  a  success  even  in  the  Exposition, 
where  from  twelve  to  thirteen  tons  of  coal 
are  used  daily.  The  machine  can  be  seen 
and  its  merits  heard  of  at  the  following 
places,  where  it  is  in  use:  John  Roper  <fc  Co., 
Nos.  37  and  39  Wabash  avenue;  Rand,  Mc- 
Nally  &  Co.,  Nos.  148  and  154  Monroe  street; 
A.  (jr.  Leonard  <fe  Co. ,  179  Monroe  street,  and 
at  other  leading  establishments. 

CAJLUMET  IRON  ANL>   STEEI,   COMPANY. 

A  GEEAT  AND   GBOWIKG  INTEBEST. 

This  region  can  never  be  anything  else  but 
solid  for  a  protective  tariff  when  it  sees  in 
operation  such  vast  work-shops  as  those  at 
South  Chicago  (Cummings),  belonging  to  this 
company,  and  realizes  that  but  for  that  guard- 
ianship of  home  industry  against  foreign  pau- 
perized labor,  one  thousand  pairs  of  willing 
hands — to  take  the  specific  case  of  this  com- 
pany and  its  pay-roll — would  be  thrown  out  of 
employment.  The  iron  interest  is  one  of  the 
most  important  in  this  manufacturing  center 
of  the  Northwest,  and  its  prosperity  or  ruin 
are  questions — it  is  not  too  strong  to  say — of 
almost  vital  concern  to  the  general  well  be- 
ing. With  such  convictions,  not  less  sincerely 
entertained  for  being  somewhat  overlaid  by 
wonder  at  the  vast  establishment  spread  out 
to  view,  THE  INTER  OCEAN  man  recently  sur- 
veyed these  works  and  their  army  of  con- 


102 


CHICAGO'S  FIEST  HALF  CENTURY. 


teated  toilers,  adding  blow  by  blow, 
whether  by  their  own  arms  or  by 
machinery,  to  the  wealth  of  the  coun- 
try. As  stated.  not  less  than  1,000 
men  are  employed  by  the  company,  and  their 
muscle  is  supplemented  immeasurably  by 
the  ponderous  machinery. 

The  works  consist  of  a  blast  furnace  of  the 
first  rank,  yielding  a  molten  product  of  35,- 
000  tons  per  annum;  a  splendidly  equipped 
rolling  mill,  containing1  four  trains  of  rolls 
for  manufacturing"  merchant  iron  and  nail 
plate,  the  ponderous  machinery  flattening 
out  to  the  right  shape  not  less  than  40,000 
tons  annually  of  finished  iron,  which  includes 
some  sixty  tons  of  nail  plate  a  day,  or 
rather  night  and  day,  for  the  mills 
are  run  constantly,  the  giant  chimneys 
sustaining  a  dense  pillar  of  cloud  by  day, 
like  that  before  the  itinerant  Israelites,  and 
of  fire  by  night,  so  luminous  that  the  land- 
mark, or,  rather,  sky-mark,  is  visible  for 
miles  around,  and  m  the  immediate,  region 
supplants  the  moon;  four  open-hearth  steel 
furnaces  (Siemen's),  with  a  capacity  of  12,- 
000  tons  per  annum;  a  nail  factory,  the 
largest  in  the  Northwest,  finishing  7,500 
kegs  a  week,  of  all  sizes,  assorted,  and  yield- 
ing an  annual  output  of  325,000  kegs  of 
nails,  or  nearly  1.000  kegs  a  day — a  great 
yield  indeed,  but  needed  to  meet  the  corre- 
spondingly large  pay-roll — and,  be  •  it 
added,  needed  also  to  compensate  the 
ear-split  visitor  for  the  bedlam  of 
the  wonderful  machinery  that  ham- 
mers out  so  lightning-like  your  kegful 
of  one-penny,  two-penny,  three-peeny  nails, 
up  to  the  largest  spikes  that  ever  were  driven 
by  sledges;  and  last,  but  not  least,  the  works 
embrace  a  new  branch  only  just  introduced, 
the  manufacture  of  steel  castings,  a  depart- 
ure that  promises  soon  to  be  one  of  the  prom- 
inent features  of  the  works. 

The  quality  of  the  company's  goods,  like 
their  advantages  for  doing  business — indeed 
consequent  thereon — is  of  the  very  best, 
foundry  pig  iron,  merchant  iron  and  nails, 
with  the  brand  "Calumet"  being  well-known 
as  standard.  As  to  their  prime  facilities  for 
doing-  business  and  so  competing  successfully 
in  prices,  to  begin  with,  both  their  fuel  and 
ore  arrive  by  water,  the  latter  direct 
from  the  Lake  Superior  region,  while 
the  Belt  Line  Railroad  runs  right  into 
the  works,  and  delivers  cars  the  following 
day  to  any  railroad  going  out  of  Chicago.  In 
short,  to  end  with  as  to  begin,  Chicago  is  the 
site  of  these  works — Chicago,  mistress  of 
manufactures,  a  distributing  as  well  as  re- 
ceiving point  with  no  equal  in  this  country. 

The  officers  of  the  Calumet  Iron  and  Steel 
Company  are  Mr.  C.  E.  Cummings,  President; 
Mr.  D.  C." Bradley.  Vice  President  and  General 
Manager;  and  Mr.  J.  M.  Brown,  Secretary 
and  Treasurer.  Office,  First  National  Bank 
Building,  Dearborn  and  Monroe  streets, 
Chicago. 

N.  A.  WILLIAMS. 

219   WASHINGTON   STEEET, 

manufacturer  and  dealer  in  sewer  pipe,  fire 
brick,  drain  tile,  cement,  fire  clay,  ground 
brick,  chimney  tops,  chimney-flue  linings, 
plaster,  and  fine  sand,  has  been  established 
in  business  in  this  city  since  1869.  The 
material  he  offers  is  superior  to  any  that 
can  be  found  in  this  or  any  other  market. 
Akron  sewer  pipe  is  handled  exclusively  by 
liim.  He  sold  the  first  pipe  ever  manufact- 


ured bv  Akron  pipe-makers,  in  1857.  It  is 
a  standard  pipe,  and  is  indorsed  by  the  city 
government.  He  deals  larg'ely  in  fire  brick. and 
his  stock  is  composed  of  the  best  brands  in 
this  country,  -which  have  been  thor- 
oughly tested  by  most  of  the  large 
manufacturers,  and  have  given  satisfaction. 
It  includes  the  Mount  Savage,  manufactured 
in  Maryland;  the  Scioto  Star,  in  Portsmouth, 
Ohio,  and  others  equally  celebrated.  He 
ships  large  quantities  of  sewer  pipe  and  brick 
throhgh  the  West  and  Northwest,  and, 
in  fact,  to  all  parts  of  the  United  States. 
His  largest  sales  are  in  Akron 
sewer-pipe,  and  then  conies  brick,  tile  ce- 
ment, fire  clay,  chimney  tops,  plaster, 
fine  sand,  etc.  Business  has  prospertid 
with  him  to  a  remarkable  degree,  and  in- 
creased 20  per  cent  this  year  He  is  the  old- 
est firm  in  this  line  m  the  city,  well 
known  as  a  first-class  business  man,  and  is 
prompt,  and  whatever  he  recommends  may 
be  relied  on.  His  stock  is  always  large,  and 
parties  wishing  to  purchase  should  call  and 
examine  it  before  buying  elsewhere. 

THE  VAN  DEPOELE  ELECTRIC  LIGHT. 

A   SUPEBIOB  LIGHT. 

The  superiority  of  electric  lighting  over 
other  methods  of  artificial  illumination  are 
so  incontestible  an  patent  to  all  that  a  dis- 
cussion regarding  its  merits  is  superfluous. 
The  question  to  be 
decided  is  which 
electric  light  or  sys- 
tem is  the  best  from 
all  points  of  view. 
The  writer  of  this 
article,  after  long  ex- 
amination and  close 
observation,  feels 
warranted  in  stating 
that  the  arc  lamps 
and  dynamos  manu- 
factured under  the 
Van  Depoele  patents 
possess  in  the  highest 
desrree  of  excellence 
the  requirements  of  a. 
perfectly  reliable  and 
steady  means  of  elec- 
tric lighting.  The 
reasons  to  be  given 
for  this  claim  are 
-imple  and  decisive 
and  consists  in  the 
extreme  simplicity 
of  construction  in  all 
parts  of  the  system, 
ease  of  management, 
perfect  safety,  readi- 
ness of  control  and 
the  incomparable 
perfection  of  the 
white  and  steady 
light  obtained,  alight 
so  pure,  soft  and 
white  that  photo- 
graphs have  been 
taken  thereby  in  nine 
seconds,  rivalling  the 
sun  111  the  length  of 
time  required  for  ex- 
posure. 

The  means  by  which  these  important  and 
vital  results  have  been  accomplished  con 
sists: 

1.     In  the  peculiar  disposition  of    the  nela 
magnets,  and  great  compactness,  and  above 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


103 


all  the  greatest  volume  of  working  current 
for  the  least  amount  of  power. 

2.  That  any  number  or  all  of  the  lights 
may  be  turned  off  or  on  as  desired  with  the 
same  ease  of  gas,  the  current  regulating  it- 
self to  the  work  to  be  done. 

A  brief  description  of  the  principle  parts 
of  the  dynamo  may  be  of  interest 
to  our  readers.  The  Field  Magnets  con- 
sists of  two  large  coils  of  cop- 
per wire  wound  around  two  soft 
iron  cores,  their  north  and  south  poles  fac- 
ing each  other;  The  armature,  which  forms 
the  most  important  part  of  the  machine,  con- 
sists of  a  frame  made  of  a  number  of  iron 
bars,  each  separated  from  the  other.  These 
bars  are  riveted  to  the  inner  and  outer  peri- 
phery of  two  metal  rings,  several  of  these 
rings  being  placed  between  the  inner  and 
outer  layer  of  iron  bars.  And  finally  the 
rings  and  bars  are  riveted  together  so  as  to 
form  a  solid  frame.  The  commutator  is 
made  of  a  large  number  of  copper  sections 
securely  held  together  and  connected  to  the 
coils  of  the  armacure.  The  brushes  and  their 
holders  are  maae  in  a  substantial  manner, 
and  are  easily  handled  and  adjusted. 

The  lamp  has  few  parts,  does  not  get  out 
of  order,  is  ornamental,  compact,  and  is  so 
insulated  thai  it  can  be  handled  in  perfect 
security.  Even  with  the  largest  machines, 
any  lamp  or  any  t>art  of  the  circuit  may  be 
touched  with  impunity,  an  accident  having 
never  yet  been  met  with  through  the  current 
of  their  machines,  something  which  very  few 
companies  can  boast  of. 

The  Van  Depoele  plant  is  sold  outright,  no 
royalty  being  demanded.  Tnis  system  com- 
pares favorably  with  anything  ndw  on  the 
market  as  regards  cost  and  prices;  they  do 
not  ask  30  per  cent  of  the  stock,  nor  make 
reservations  of  any  kind;  it  is  a  bona  fide 
outright  sale  of  lamps  and  machinery. 

We  invite  cities  and  towns  to  correspond 
with  them,  ana  investigate  their  system  be- 
fore purchasing  elsewhere,  believing  that 
careful  investigation  will  demonstrate  that 
they  have  the  most  perfect  system  of  elec- 
tric lighting  now  offered  to  the  public.  Cat- 
alogue and  prices  furnished  on  application. 
The  officers  of  the  companv  are  Norman  T. 
Gassette,  President;  Theo.  1?  Bailey,  Secre- 
tary; and  C.  J.  Van  Depoele,  Electrician. 
The  main  warerooms  and  factory  are  located 
at  203  and  205  Van  Buren  street,  Chicago,  IlL 

J.  S.  KIRK  &  CO. 

"CLEANLINESS  IS  NEXT  TO   GODLINESS. " 

These  well-known  soap  manufacturers 
have  during  the  past  year  made  vast  strides 
in  the  extent  and  scope  of  their  trade,  and 
have  placed  their  popular  products  in  every 
city,  town,  village,  and  hamlet  in  the  United 
States.  Their  knowledge  and  skill  in  creating 
a  fine  article  has  been  derived  from  long  ex- 
perience, patient  investigation,  and  a  critical 
discrimination  of  the  wants  of  the  market. 

Mr.  J.  S.  Kirk,  thf>  founder  of  this  house, 
began  making  soap  at  Utica,  N.  Y.,  in  1839 
and  has  continued  in  the  business  ever  since. 
The  sons,  Messrs.  James  A. ,  John  B. ,  M.  W. , 
andW.  F.  Kirk,  are  ably  assisting  their  father 
in  the  management  of  the  business,  and  are 
constantly  directing  their  skilled  experience 
to  the  exigencies  and  demands  of  the  busi- 
ness. 

The  firm  began  operations  in  Chicago  in 
1859,  and  the  constant  and  steady  growth 
of  their  business  attests  the  genuine  merit 


and  value  of  their  soaps,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  surprising  and  marvelous  examples  of 
the  sudden  rise  to  greatness  which  is  so  char- 
acteristic of  Chicago,  and  the  career  of  its 
representative  business  men.  The  factory  is 
located  at  342  to  370  North  Water  street, 
this  city,  and  is  a  substantial  brick  edifice 
120x240  feet  in  dimensions,  and  six  stories 
in  height,  the  motive  power  being  furnished 
by  a  1,400  horse  power  engine,  the  steam 
being  supplied  by  twelve  large  steel  boilers. 
Nearly  GOO  hands  are  constantly  engaged 
in  creating  soap  and  perfumery  in  order 
that  their  fellow  creatures  may  be  clean  and 
sweet.  A  saw-mill  in  Michigan  is  owned  by 
the  firm,  the  entire  output  of  lumber  being 
consumed  in  making  the  boxes  required. 
Sixty  million  pounds  of  soap  was  manufac- 
tured and  sold  by  this  house  during  the  past 
year,  the  factory  running  day  and  night  in 
order  to  ship  sales  promptly. 

The  most  popular  brands  of  soaps  are  the 
Zenithia,  Commonwealth,  Calumet  Bouquet, 
Palama  Eosa,  Fine  Palm,  Turtle  Oil,  and 
Windsor,  in  toilet  products,  and  their  laun- 
dry soaps  are  standard  upon  our  market, 
nothing  but  the  best  tallow  and  oils  being 
used  in  any  of  their  goods.  With  the  most 
improved  and  modern  machinery  and  appli- 
ances, together  with  anxious  and  watchful 
attention  to  the  details  of  their  business,  this 
house  has  built  up  a  patronage  which  is  sec- 
ond to  none  in  this  country. 

Every  grade  of  goods,  from  the  cheapest 
washing  to  the  most  delicate  toilet  soaps, 
is  produced.  The  perfumery  department, 
though  a  comparatively  new  feature,  is 
equipped  with  the  utmost  completeness,  and 
the  extracts  which  they  bottle  are  taking  the 
lead  in  popularity,  the  delicacy,  purity,- 
and  strength  of  these  goods  have  recom- 
mended them  to  the  attention  of  a  critical 
public,  the  Zenithia  and  Palestine  Lily  being 
the  results  of  new  discoveries  in  the  com- 
pounding of  essences,  while  their  Lavender, 
Jockey  Club,  and  Ylaug  Ylang  waters  are 
meeting  with  an  unprecedented  sale.  On  the 
whole,  we  know  of  no  soap  manufacturer  in 
the  country  that  brings  a  more  consummate 
knowledge  and  ripened  experience  into  the 
business  than  the  gentlemen  connected  with 
this  firm.  They  have  their  eyes  on  the  wants 
of  the  American  people,  and  seem  to  have 
fully  met  and  satisfied  their  demands  for  a 
fine,  honest  soap  at  prices  that  compare  most 
favorably  with  any  other  establishment  of 
the  kind  in  the  United  States. 


WESTERN  BRICK  AND  TILE  COMPANY. 

AN  OLD   INDUSTBY  IN  A   MEW   GUISE. 

The  manufacture  of  brick  is  one  of  the 
oldest  of  human  industries,  and  from  time 
immemorial  this  material  has  been  highly 
popular  with  buildera  There  were  reasons 
for  this  popularity;  in  the  first  place,  the 
clay  could  be  molded  into  a  form  convenient 
for  handling  by  the  workmen,  or  fashioned 
to  meet  any  exigency  of  architecture,  with- 
out the  expense  incident  to  carving  wood,  or 
the  more  lasting  blocks  of  stone;  but  the 
chief  reason  remains  to  be  assigned,  the 
easily  formed  squares  and  oblongs  of 
clay,  when  properly  finished  by  drying 
or  burning,  were  found  to  be  moro 
durable  than  anything  else  from  which 
could  be  constructed.  Thp 


104 


CHICAGO'S  FIKST   HALF  CENTURY. 


truth  of  this  last  statement  is  abundantly 
proved  by  the  remains  of  Roman  brick  work 
which  are  scattered  over  various  parts  of 
Englond,  and  by  the  still  more  ancient  ruins 
of  brick-built  structures  which,  in  our  own 
times,  have  been  exhumed  from  the  shapeless 
mounds  that  mark  the  sites  of  Babylon  and 
Nmevan.  All  these  relics  of  the  almost  for- 
gotten past  bear  unmistabable  evidence  that 
the  brick  is  something  which  is  pretty  nearly 
imperishable.  There  have  been  of  course 
many  and  great  improvements  in  the  methods 
of  manufacturing  brick — since  the  days 
when  the  unfortunate  children  of  Israel 
made  them  under  Pharaoh's  taskmasters 
in  the  land  of  Egypt — but  these  can- 
not be  described,  or  even  mentioned, 
in  a  trade  review  article  for  lack 
space.  This,  however,  may  be  born 
in  mind,  the  ease  with  which  clay  can  be 
molded  into  any  desired  form,  and  the  dura- 
bility as  well  as  the  cheapness  of  good  brick 
as  building  material,  are  points  which  have 
never  been  lost  sight  of  by  inventors,  and 
the  Patent  Office  at  Washington  will  show 
not  only  a  world  of  complicated,  expensive 
machinery  for  grinding  and  molding  the 
clay,  but  innumerable  devices  also  in  the 
way  of  kilns  for  burning  it  into  a  marketable 
condition  after  it  had  been  properiy  fash- 
ioned. To  Colonel  W.  L.  Gregg,  of  Phila- 
delphia, belongs  the  Honor,  beyond  a  doubt, 
of  inventing  the  most  perfect  machinery 
for  the  manufacture  of  brick,  and 
especially  or  pressed  brick,  which  ha» 
ever  been  submitted  to  the  inspection  of  the 
public,  and  of  transforming  a  rude  craft  into 
a  fine  art  It  is  literally  true  that  brick 
making — at  least  as  practiced  in  Chicago  in 
this  present  year  of  grace  by  the  Western 
Brick  and  Tile  Company — has  advanced  from 
a  craft  to  an  art,  and  first-class,  artistic  tal- 
ent is  in  constant  employ  moreover  by  the 
company  above  referred  to,  to  design  the 
novelties  in  shape  which  are  destined  to 
adorn  the  fronts  of  suburban  cottages  and  of 
the  palatial  city  residences.  Heretofore 
machine-made  brick  have  been  objected  to 
by  many  leading  architects  for  the  reason 
that  they  were  unequal  in  size,  finish, 
and  density,  and  rery  often  deficient 
in  strength.  These  objections  have  all 
been  anticipated  and  obviated  by  Colonel 
Gregg's  wonderful  machinery,  which  em- 
braces no  less  than  ten  different  patents,  and 
represent  years  of  patient  inventive  toil  The 
brick  manufactured  by  his  processes  are 
simply  perfect.  They  received  the  highest 
award  at  the  American  Centennial  of  1876, 
at  the  Paris  International  Exposition  of  1878, 
and  at  various  prominent  State  and  inter- 
State  expositions  of  a  late  date.  In  fine, 
they  are  conceded  to  be  the  best  in  quality 
and  appearance  on  the  market,  and  have 
been  designated  for  use  in  the  construction 
of  government  works  afterhavinar  been  sub- 
mitted to  the  most  severe  tests  by  Lieuten- 
ant Colonel  Gillmore,  of  the  United  States 
Engineers,  and  by  the  supervising  architect 
jf  the  new  Treasury  building  at  Washington. 
They  were  found  capable  of  sustaining  the 
enormous  pressure  of  100,000  pounds  to  the 
square  inch. 

The  Western  Brick  and  Tile  Company, 
which  is  now  manufacturing  this  descrip- 
tion of  building  material  for  the  Chicago 
market,  was  establisned  in  1883,  with  head- 
quarters at  Galewood,  about  nine  miles  from 
this  city,  where  one  of  the  finest  clay  depos- 


its in  the  country  was  discovere  I  a  few 
months  before.  The  company  has  u  capita! 
of  $500,000,  and  is  officered  as  follows: 

Homer  Pennock,  President. 

D.  K.  Tripp,  Vice  President 

A.  W.  Penney,  Secretary. 

Edward  Koch,  Treasurer. 

Colonel  W.  L.  Gregg,  General  Manager. 

The  main  works, which  was  built  for  the  pur 
pose,  is  a  spacious  two-story  building,  20Ox 
100  feet  in  dime  r.lons.  It  is  capable  of  turn 
ing  out  200,000  of  the  finest  and  most  ar- 
tistically perfect  brick  per  day,  and  in  the 
coming  spring  such  additional  machinery 
will  be  supplied  as  will  double  its  manufac- 
turing capabilities.  It  is  now  imming  night 
and  day  to  fill  its  orders,  and  has  already 
taken  rank  as  one  of  the  leading  industries 
of  Chicago.  The  office  of  the  company  is  at 
No.  53  Dearborn  street 

THE  CHICAGO  WIRE   AND  IKON  WORKS, 

LOCATED  AT  110  LAKE  STREET. 

report  business  in  their  line  as  having 
been  unusually  good  during  the  past 
oeason.  While  they  have  been  in 
the  business  under  the  above  name 
only  since  last  April,  the  working  organiza- 
tion is  an  old  one  in  Chicago,  formerly  being 
the  wire  railing  department  of  the  Clinton 
Wire  Cloth  Company.  Since  the  new  organ- 
ization their  business  has  been  largely  ex- 
tended. They  make  to  order  or  keep  in  stock 
a  full  line  of  plain  and  ornamental  wire- 
work  wire  cloth,  all  kinds  of  wire,  sheet 
brass,  tubing  and  ornamental  brasswork; 
also,  stable  fittings,  vases,  settees,  crestings 
and  finials,  tower  ornaments  and  weather 
vanes.  They  make  a  specialty  of  wrought 
iron  fences  for  private  residences,  public 
buildings,  parks,  etc. ;  also,  tubular  fences 
for  cemeteries,  etc.  They  employ  about  100 
workmen  in  Chicago,  and  as  the  Western 
branch  of  the  E.  T.  Barnum  Wire  and  Iron 
Works,  represent  a  manufacturing  capacity 
of  over  1,000  men,  with  tbe  most  approved 
machinery,  distributed  over  a  floor  area  of 
over  200.000  square  feet.  The  illustrated 
catalogues  of  this  company  are  the  most 
complete  ever  issued,  covering  almost  the  en- 
tire list  of  articles  made  of  wire  and  iron, 
and  as  an  aid  to  satisfactory  selection  are  be- 
yond comparison. 

CLEVELAND   CO-OPERATIVE  STOVE   CO. 

201   AND   203   LAKE    STREET. 

The  Chicago  branch  of  this  well-known 
stove  house,  located  at  201  and  203  Laka 
street,  has  become  one  of  the  leaders  in  the 
stove  industry  throughout  the  Northwest. 
The  causes  of  their  popularity  lies  in  the  fact 
that  the  class  of  goods  manufactured  by  this 
company  combine  in  a  high  degree  all  the  es- 
sential elements  that  go  to  make  a  durable, 
elegant,  and  reliable  stove. 

The  factories  of  the  company  are  located 
at  Cleveland.  Ohio.  We  venture  to  say  that 
no  stove  manufactory  in  the  country  brings 
to  bear  more  skilled  experience  and  judg- 
ment into  their  profession  than  the  gent.e- 
meu  composing  this  company. 

The  Telephone  Range  and  Elberon  Heater, 
two  new  patterns  which  they  have  recently 
added  to  their  lines,  possess"  features  of  nov- 
elty and  excellence  not  often  met  with. 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


105 


.These  creations,  while  being  very  popular, 
are  at  fche  same  time  the  most  magnificent 
and  perfect  expression  of  legitimate  stove- 
plate  decoration  that  has  yet  been  displayed 
on  this  market. 

With  branch  offices  at  Indianapolis,  St. 
Louis,  and  St.  Paul,  this  company  have 
placed  themselves  and  their  products  high 
in  the  estimation  of  the  American  public  by 
the  matchless  virtues  of  honest  dealing,  low 
prices,  and  prompt  delivery. 

CRANE     BROTHERS'     MANUFACTURING 

COMPANY 

report  a  largely  increased  business  during 
the  past  year  and  collections  satisfactory. 
Prices  were  remunerative  the  first  part  of  the 
year,  but  declined  the  latter  part,  owing  to 
the  depression  in  the  iron  market,  which  is 
the  more  remarkable  as  the  demand  for 
goods  has  not  fallen  off.  They  manufacture 
steam  and  hydraulic  elevators,  which  are  in 
general  use  and  very  popular;  steam  engines, 
steam  pumps,  steam  goods,  engine  trim- 
mings, and  wrought-iron  pipe  of  all  descrip- 
tions, having  two  mills  for  that  purpose,  the 
lap-weld  pipe  mill  being  very  large  and  run 
to  its  full  capacity.  They  make  specialties  of 
cast-iron  and  malleable  fittings  of  all  kinds, 
and  brass  and  iron  valves  and  cocks  for 
steam,  gas,  and  water.  These  works,  cover- 
ing almost  a  square  on  Jefferson  and  Des- 
plaines  street,  give  employment  to  1,200 
men.  It  is  one  of  the  largest  houses  in  its 
line  in  the  West,  and  occupies  a  very  con- 
spicuous place  among  the  leading  manufac- 
turing industries  of  the  West 

BURLINGTON    MANUFACTURING    CO. 

MABBLES. 

The  Burlington  Manufacturing  Company, 
at  the  corner  of  Michigan  avenue  and  Van 
Buren  street,  are  extensive  manufacturers 
and  producers  of  marble  in  the  form  of  floor 
tiling,  mantels,  wainscoting,  monuments,  and 
all  kinds  of  interior  and  exterior  ornamen- 
tation and  decoration.  Tney  aim  to  secure 
the  best  grades  of  marble  from  beds  of  vari- 
ous geological  formations  and  structure, 
possessing  a  fineness  of  texture  and  purity  of 
shading  that  tit  it  for  tne  choicest  works  of 
decoration  and  even  for  the  sculptor;  of 
grades  held  in  the  highest  estimation  by 
those  familiar  with  this  rock.  Their  experi- 
ence and  their  determination  to  use  none 
but  the  best  material  has  enabled  them  to 
secure  a  large  patronage.  Their  trade  ex- 
tends through  the  West  and  Northwest,  and 
elsewhere  to  some  extent. 

THOMAS  OOUGAJOL. 

BECOBD  OF  THIBTY-FIVE  YEABS. 

At  Noa  35  to  41  Cedar  street  we  find  the 
extensive  establishment  of  Thomas  Dougall. 
This  gentleman  first  engaged  in  the  manu- 
facture of  soap  in  Chicago  thirty-five  year 
ago,  and  no  other  laundry  soap  ever  placed 
upon  the  market  in  this  country  has  given 
more  universal  or  continued  satisfaction 
His  leading  brands  are  the  "American  Laun- 
dry," ''German  Fine  Laundry,"  and  Chemical 
Erasive.  His  soaps  are  sold  in  large  quanti- 
ties all  over  the  West  and  at  prices  that  defy 


competition.  In  his  factory  is  used  the  lat- 
est and  most  improved  machinery,  so  that 
his  soap  is  manufactured  at  the  least  Dossi- 
ble  expense.  Mr.  Dougall  reports  his  trade 
constantly  on  the  increase  and  his  business 
in  a  satisfactory  condition. 

SPIELMAN  BROS. 

COMPBESSED  YEAST   AND   VINEGAB. 

Among  the  thriving  enterprises  of  Chicago 
may  be  mentioned  that  of  Messrs.  Spielman 
Bros.,  manufacturers  of  compressed  yeast 
and  vinegar.  This  firm,  located  at  103  East 
Erie  street,  has  been  compelled  by  their  in- 
crease of  trade  to  seek  larger  quarters,  and 
are  now  located  at  Nos.  93  to  99  North  ave- 
nue, also  running  their  Erie  street  estab- 
lishment. This  firm  was  established  in  1879, 
on  a  small  scale,  and  are  now  the  largest 
manufacturers  of  their  kind  of  goods  in 
America.  They  make  white  wine  vinegar, 
and,  with  their  increased  facilities,  are  un- 
able to  keep  up  with  their  ordera  Their 
yeast  is  known  as  the  Chicago  Compressed 
Yeast,  and  is  being  used  by  large  bakers  and 
the  leading  grocers  of  the  citv. 

They  have  lately  made  extensive  additions 
and  improvements,  which  enables  them  in  a 
measure  to  keep  pace  with  their  thriving 
business.  We  wish  them  merited  success. 

JPURTEI,!,,  HANNAN  &  CO. 

NICKEL    PLATEBS. 

The  members  of  this  firm  are  practical 
workmen,  and  herein  lies  the  secret  of  their 
success,  for  they  have  certainly  been  success- 
ful, and  have  grown  in  importance  steadily 
ana  surely  year  by  year,  until  they  are  now 
one  of  the  most  prominent  firms  in  their  line 
of  business  in  Chicago.  They  make  a  specialty 
of  fine  and  durable  work,  and  pay  great  at- 
tention to  stair  and  balcony  railings.  They 
also  do  an  immense  amount  of  work  for  the 
palace-car  companies.  Door  plates,  carriage 
plating,  and  carriage  name  plates  are  also  di- 
rectly in  their  line  of  business,  and  have  re- 
cently added  uickel-plating,  bronzing,  dip- 
ping, lacquering,  polishing,  and  grinding  to 
their  extensive  works.  This  firm  is  licensed 
by  the  United  nickel  Company,  of  New  York. 
They  are  at  present  located  at  No.  60  South 
Canal  street,  prepared  to  increase  their  busi- 
ness materially  during  1884. 

J.  J.  WIL.SON. 

THE   ABBOW  BBAND. 

Mr.  Wilson  first  engaged  in  the  vinegar 
rade  in  Chicago  in  1865  and  in  the  pickle 
business  in  1876,  naming  his  pickles  the 
"Arrow  Bran'd,"  which  has  been  registered  as 
this  trade  mark.  His  pickles  and  kindred 
goods  are  well  and  favorably  known  through- 
out the  country  and  give  universal  satisfac- 
tion to  the  trade.  Mr.  Wilson  reports  a  steady 
increase  of  trade  year  bv  year.  His  office  and 
factory  are  locate'd  at  Nos.  12  and  14  North 
Clinton  street,  Chicago,  and  his  salting  works 
at  Crystal  Lake,  Illinois. 

PRUSSIXG   VINEGAR    WORKS. 

STBICTLY  PUBE   GOODS. 

Among  the  pioneer  industries  of  Chicago 
are  the  well-known  Trussing  Vinegar  Works, 


106 


CHICAGO'S  FIEST  HAT/F  CENTUBY, 


founded  by  Mr.  Chas.  G.  E.  Pressing  in  1848. 
These  works  occupy  the  block  bounded  by 
Clark,  LaSalle,  Twenty-fourth,  and  Twenty- 
fifth  streets,  and  are  the  oldest  works  of  the 
kind  in  America,  as  also  the  most  complete 
and  extensive  in  the  world,  their  daily  ca- 
pacity being  400  brls.  A  visit  to  this  estab- 
lishment reminds  one  of  the  famous  old 
breweries  of  England,  as  there  may  be  seen 
faithful  and  reliable  workmen  grown  from 
vouth  to  old  ape  in  the  service  of  the  Pruss- 
Ing»,  and  to  this  system  is  due  much  of  the 
reliability  and  uniform  purity  of  Prussing's 
vinegar,  which  has  so  many  years  brought 
Joy  to  the  hearts  of  prudent  housewives, 
who  pride  themselves  on  the  crispness  and 
flavor  of  the  toothsome  pickJe. 

THE  YOUNG  &  FARREL 

DIAMOND  STONE-SAWING  COMPANY'S 

Works  on  Twelfth  and  Lumber  streets,  Chi- 
cago (see  cut),  are  most  complete  and  admir- 
able; it  is  said,  indeed,  they  have  not  their 
equal  in  the  world.  They  cover  an  area  of 
about  thxee  acres,  and  include  many  won- 


company  feel  confident  of  building  up  a  mag- 
nificent business  by  helping  to  build  up  and 
embellish  these  magnificent  cities  of  the 
great  West. 

The  officers  are  Franklin  Farrel,  President ; 
Hugh  Young,  Secretary  and  Treasurer;  Fer- 
dinand V.  Gindele.  Manager,  and  Robert  C. 
Harper,  Superintendent.  They  are  exceed- 
ingly gratified  with  the  liberal  patronage  of 
architects,  builders,  and  the  public  hereto- 
fore accorded  them,  and  are  determined  to 
deserve  the  continuance  and  increase  of  the 
same. 

THE   AIXEN  PAPER   CAR-WHEEI,  CO. 

A   WHEEL   THAT  IS   ABSOLUTELY   SAFE. 

The  science  of  railroading  owes  a  great 
deal  of  its  advancement  and  progress  to  this 
celebrated  wheel,  which  has  been  tried  and 
found  to  perform  all  that  is  claimed  for  it 
The  core  of  the  Allen  car-wheel  consists  of 
straw  board  compressed  by  hydraulic  power 
of  5, 000  to  ns.  The  centers  are  encircled  by 
heavy  steel  tires  of  the  most  perfect  and  ex- 
pensive manufacture.  The  paper,  in  the 
center  of  which  rests  the  iron  hub,  is  encased 


derfully  effective  machines,  such  as  over- 
head travelers,  power  and  hand  cranes,  dia- 
mond saws,  planers,  rubbing  beds,  lathes, 
etc.,  for  handling,  sawing,  dressing,  polish- 
ing1, and  turning  the  different  kinds  of  build- 
ing stone. 

The  business  of  the  company  is  the  fur- 
nishing and  erection  of  cut  stone,  whether 
plain,  molded,  or  carved,  for  private  dwell- 
ings, business  blocks,  churches,  court  houses, 
schools,  bridges,  and  the  like,  and  it  makes  a 
specialty  also  of  planed  sidewalks..  It  is  the 
sole  agent  in  the  West  for  several  of  the 
most  interesting  and  valuable  stones,  of 
which  we  may  mention  the  red  Scotch  stone, 
known  as  Corsehill,  so  popular  in  the  East- 
ern cities,  and  the  celebrated  and  attractive 
Brinton  green  stone  of  Pennsylvania,  already 
such  a  favorite  in  Chicago. 

The  company  owns  the  patents  for  Young's 
diamond  saws  and  for  other  machines  used 
in  its  business,  and  has  a  branch  establish- 
ment at  Mott  Haven,  New  York  City,  spec- 
ially devoted  to  their  manufacture  and  sale. 
By  reason  of  abundant  capital,  extraordinary 
facilities,  and  long  experience  in  every  part 
of  their  business;  oy  promptness,  good  work, 
and  reasonable  charges,  the  officers  of  this 


eii  side-plates  of  wrought  iron',  the 
combination  of  steel,  paper,  and  iron  being 
so  securely  held  together  as  to  be  incapable 
of  separation  in  any  considerable  accident. 
Safety  and  durability  result  as  a  natural  con- 
sequence. As  high  as  200,000  miles  have 
been  obtained  from  these  wheels  without 
turning  the  tire,  and  800.000  miles  without 
renewing  the  tire.  The  economy  of  the 
wheel  in  every  way  is  established.  The  Allen 
Paper  Car-wheel  Company,  of  which  Mr.  A. 
G,  Darwin  is  President,  are  operating  exten- 
sive works  at  Pullman.  Morris,  ILL,  and  Hud- 
son, N.  Y.,  which  nave  an  annual  production 
of  25,000  wheela  These  wheels  are  in  use 
under  most  of  the  sleeping,  parlor,  chair,  and 
dining  cars,  and  many  of  the  first-class 
coaches  upon  all  the  principal  railways  in 
this  country. 

SMOKK    CONSUMPTION 

A  SUCCESSFUL  PATENT. 

Smoke  consumption  has  at  last  reached  a 
stage  of  development  which  places  it  among 
the  assured  successes  of  the  age.  This  re- 
sult has  been  attained  only  after  years  of  ex- 
perience and  patient  investigation  and  in- 


CHICAGO'S  FIB8T  TTAT.T?  CENTUEY. 


107 


quiry.  There  are  numerous  devices  upon 
the  market  which  make  great  claims  to  ef- 
fectiveness and  superiority,  but  after  thor- 
ough research  we  have  found  but  one  device 
which  effectually  accomplishes  the  result 
sought,  and  in  this  device  all  the  objections 
seem  to  have  been  met  and  overcome  with 
consummate  skill  and  completeness,  and  the 
theory  that  smoke  cannot  be  consumed  is  ex- 
ploded as  is  most  emphatically  attested  by 
the  daily  operation  of  the 

HUTCHINSON  SMOKE  AND  SPAKK  BUKNKB. 

We  find  about  2,200  of  these  machines  in 
successful  operation  on  locomotives,  tugs, 
and  all  manner  of  stationary  furnaces,  tne 
number  exceeding  all  other  smoke  consum- 
ers combined.  In  no  case  has  this  device 
been  found  wanting  in  reliability,  durability, 
or  effectiveness. 

It  is  simply  an  air-feeding  device,  and  the 
fireman  can  supply  his  furnace  with  air  in 
the  same  manner  he  does  his  boiler  with 
water,  by  the  use  of  an  injector.  They  will 
attach  the  device  to  any  locomotive,  tug,  or 
other  furnace  at  their  own  expense,  and  de- 
monstrate all  they  claim  for  them  before  pre- 
senting their  bill  for  payment  Address,  for 
particulars.  103  Adams  "street,  Chicago. 

GOSS  &  PHILLIPS  MFG.  CO. 

SASH,    DOOBS,    ETC. 

In  the  development  of  the  Northwest,  sash, 
doors,  and  house-furnishing  materials  are 


joyed  such  extended  patronage  as  the  Goss 
&  Phillips  Manufacturing  Company.  While 
this  company  continues  in  business  the  con- 
sumer will  always  have  an  assurance  of  get- 
ting good  value  for  their  money.  They  are 
now  giving  particular  attention  to  hardwood 
finishings.  A  visit  to  their  establishment 
would  well  repay  the  visitor  for  the  time 
thus  spent. 

FULLER  AND   WAKREN  COMPANY. 

THE  BEST  STOVES. 

The  Clinton  Stove  Works,  at  Troy,  N.  Y. , 
were  established  in  1831  for  the  manufacture 
of  stoves,  furnaces,  and  ranges,  and  by  dint 
of  careful  attention  to  the  details  of  their 
business,  have  extended  their  trade  through- 
out the  American  continent  and  all  parts  of 
the  civilized  world.  The  establishment  occu- 
pies an  area  of  six  acres  of  ground,  with  sub- 
stantial buildings  fully  equipped  with  the 
latest  modern  appliances  for  the  production 
of  stoves,  and  tneir  facilities  are  unquestion- 
ably without  rival  in  the  stove  industry. 
Their  goods,  of  all  kinds,  are  undoubtedly 
superior  in  every  minutiae,  both  in  con- 
struction and  finish.  In  1862  the  Chicago 
branch  was  established,  and  is  one  of  the 
pioneers  in  the  Western  stove  trade,  with 
sales-room  at  56  Lake  street;  and  an  immense 
reserve  stock  in  storage  at  their  great  ware- 
house in  this  city  places  them  in  position  to 


important  ('a?tirs  toward  which  the  above 
firm  has  contributed  very  largely.  Thus,  in 
its  business  as  a  well-managed  and  success- 
ful lumber-manufacturing  company,  has 
done  much  toward  the  progress  of  the  great 
West.  Their  great  establishment,  on  the 
corndr  of  Fisk  and  Twenty-second  streets,  is 
one  of  the  landmarks  of  the  lumber  district, 
and  is  equipped  with  the  most  approved  ma^ 
cbinery.  Their  facilities  for  manufacturing 
and  shipping  are  unsurpassed  in  this  great 
lumber  market  of  the  world.  Here  mav  be 
found  at  all  times,  every  style  of  goods  in 
their  line,  from  the  plainest  to  the  most 
elaborate.  Few  establisnments  have  en- 


meet  all  demands  of  trade  promptly.  Imme- 
diate attention  to  orders,  elegant,  durable, 
reliable  goods,  close  prices,  and  prompt  ship- 
ments are  the  causes  which  have  placed  the 
Chicago  branch,  second  only  in  the  extent  oj 
its  trade  to  the  parent  house.  Send  for  their 
catalogue  which  will  be  mailed  free  to  anv 
address  upon  application. 

THE   WESTERN  LEATHER 

MANUFACTUEING    COMPANY. 

Nos.  76  and  78  Wabash  avenue.  This  is  one 
of  the  great  manufacturing  concerns  of  the 
West,  and  its  goods,  particularly  dressing 
cases,  sample  cases,  medicine  cases,  and 
leather  collar  atd  cuff  boxes — many  of  which 
are  protected  by  patents— have  a  high  repu- 


108 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


tation  the  country  over.'  Whatever  is  neat, 
tasty,  and  artistic  in  the  way  of  fancy  leather 
goods  is  made  by  this  establishment,  and 
cannot  be  excelled"  in  quality  or  finish  in  the 
United  States.  Descriptive  price-lists  sent 
to  the  trade  upon  application, 

A.   H.    ANDREWS    &    CO., 

COBNEB  W ABASH  AVENUE  AND  ADAMS, 

report  a  constant 'increase  in  the  volume  of 
their  business,  their  sales  being  considerably 
over  one  million  in  their  departments  of 
Bank  Counters,  Office  and  School  Desks, 
Opera  Chairs,  Church  Seating.  Globes,  Maps, 
and  their  specialty,  the  "Andrews  Folding 
Beds.''  The  well-known  quality  of  their 
goods  and  the  reputation  of  the  house  have 
combined  to  crowd  them  with  orders. 

BEMIS  &  M-AVOY,  BREWERS. 

The  goods  manufactured  by  this  firm  have 
a  reputation  co-  extensive  with  the  United 
States.  The  house  does  an  enormous  busi- 
ness and  counts  its  customers  by  the  thous- 
and. 

I/UMBER. 


HOLBROOK  &   CO. 

HABDWOOD   LUMBEB. 

One  of  the  most  extensive,  and  the  oldest 
in  point  of  continued  existence,  firms  deal- 
ing exclusively  in  hardwood  lumber  in  Chi  • 
cago  is  Messrs.  Holbrook  &  Co. ,  located  at 
the  corner  of  Eighteenth  and  Grove  streets. 
It  was  established  there  in  1853,  and  has  oc- 
cupied the  same  premises  ever  since.  They 
deal  in  all  kinds  of  hardwood  lumber  suit- 
able for  the  use  of  bridge  and  warehouse 


builders,  furniture  manufacturers,  interior 
and.  exterior  finishing,  and  for  whatever  uses 
hardwood  lumber  may  be  wanted.  They  ob- 
tain their  supplies  mainly  from  Michigan, 
Indiana,  and  the  South,  or  wherever  their 
judgment,  based  on  thirty  years  of  experi- 
ence, tells  them  the  best  grades  of  hardwood 
lumber  can  be  obtained.  Their  business  ex- 
tends throughout  the  West,  Northwest,  and 
to  some  extent  in  the  East.  They  have  track 
and  other  facilities  for  shipping  'in  and  out, 
which  are  unsurpassed  by  any  similar  con- 
cern in  the  country.  During  their  long  and 
uninterruptedly  fair  and  honorable  business 
career  they  have  acquired  a  reputation  for 
dealing  advantageously  and  squarely,  which 
few  firms  in  business  as  long  attain  and  re- 
tain. 

HAMILTON  &  MERRYMAN  COMPANY, 

LtJMBKB  DKALEBS. 

Loomis  and  Twenty-second  streets.  The 
business  of  this  company  expresses  exactly 
those  methods  which  have  made  this  city  the 
greatest  Ivimber  market  of  the  world.  Be- 
ginning with  the  ownership  of  the  land  on 
which  the  pine  tree  grows,  every  operation 
in  the  process  of  preparing  it  for  use  and 
putting  it  on  the  market  is  conducted  at  the 
smallest  possible  expense  and  under  one 
management.  The  mills  of  this  company 
are  at  Marinette,  Wis.,  where  they  have 
sawed  25,000, OQO  feet  the  past  year.  From 
the  mills  to  the  yards  in  Chicago"  the  lumber 
is  transported  in  their  own  vessels  and 
landed  at  their  spacious  dock,  where  at  one 
handling  it  can  be  placed  on  the  cars.  Thus 
this  company  is  prepared  to  offer  their  cus- 
tomers lumber  on  which  there  is  but  one 
profit  from  the  growing  tree  to  the  prepared 
article. 


CHAPTER   XI. 


CHICAGO'S    SUBURBS. 

THE   UNION  STOCK   YARDS. 

HISTORICAL. 

The  entire  system  of  all  the  railways  East 
and  West  center  here,  making  the  Union 
Stock  Yards  the  most  accessible  in  the  conn- 
try  for  both  buyer  and  seller  The  large 
capacity  of  the  yards,  the  facilities  for  un- 
loading, feeding,  and  reshipping  have  been 
kept  up  to  the  requirements  of  the  wondrous 
growth  of  this  market.  The  elevated  drive- 
ways and  viaduct  system  have  been  pushed 
forward  on  such  a  grand  scale  as  to  render 
the  economic  handling  of  the  stock  from  all 
divisions  more  convenient  than  at  any  other 
period  in  the  history  of  the  yards.  These 
great  roadways  and  stock  drives,  connecting 
with  the  city  of  packing-houses,  are  direct 
and  wonderf.ully  complete.  Ten  times  as 
much  stock  can  be  more  rapidly  and  con- 
veniently handled  here  at  present  than  could 
be  done  ten  years  ago,  while  the  banking 
interest  conducts  the  volume  of  two  hun- 
dred millions  of  annual  business  that  obtains 
here  now  with  fewer  complications 
and  less  red  tape  than  was  required 
to  handle  ten  millions  when  these 
yards  were  in  their  infancy.  Then 
it  required  the  personal  indorsement  and  as- 
surance, at  great  risk,  of  the  management  and 
their  friends  to  bring  Eastern  money  here  to 
conduct  this  great  brancn  of  commerce.  Now 
it  flows  through  in  such  a  wave  that  the  tide 
will  ever  be  irresistible.  Much  has  been 
written  and  said  upon  the  subject  to  whom 
belongs  the  credit  of  concentrating  in  Chi- 
cago this  branch  of  commerce,  through  which 
flows  the  cumulative  wide  Western  wealth  in 
its  fullest  volume.  The  proposition  is  plain 
and  of  easy  solution.  To  those  energetic  spir- 
its belongs  the  chief  credit  that  gathered  the 
nucleus  and  rounded  into  form  this  grand 
combination  of  united  interests,  and  then 
sagaciously  directed  the  enterprise  until  it 
has  become  a  rock-rooted  institution  of  Mid- 
dle America,  adjunctive  to  the  civilized  world. 
It  can  be  said  beyond  a  cavil  or  doubt  that 
the  business  facilities  afforded  by  the 

UNION  STOCK  YARD  AND  TRANSIT  COMPANY 

to  the  live  stock  ma'-Ket  of  Chicago  has  been 
one  of  the  chief  factors  in  the  grand  agri- 
cultural development  of  the  great  West. 

From  the  foundation  of  this  market  up  to 
the  present  the  same  management  nave  bent 
their  indefatigable  energy  to  the  accomplish- 
ment of  a  great  purpose ;  how  well  they  have 


succeeded  is  known  in  every  land  and  lauded 
in  every  language,  until  the  guide-book  of 
the  foreign  visitor  is  incomplete  that  does 
not  include  tne  great  Union  Stock  Yards  and 
its  city  of  packing-houses,  wherein  is  prepared 
the  mostwholesome  and  richest  of  human  food 
which  is  sent  to  feed  the  millions  throughout 
the  world.  The  first  stock  yard  founded  in 
Chicago,  that  attracted  Eastern  capitalists  to 
this  market  as  a  live  stock  supply  point,  was 
managed  by  John  B.  Sherman,  who  was  the 
chief  spirit  in  organizing  the  present 
Union  Stock  Yards,  and  has  been  actively 
identified  with  its  management  ever  since. 
These  yards  were  constructed  in  the  year 
1865,  and  were  opened  for  business  Dec.  25 
of  the  same  year.  The  company  now  owns 
about  a  section  of  land,  and  over  one  hun- 
dred miles  of  railroad  track,  making  a  transit 
through  the  city,  and  running  around  and 
through  different  parts  of  the  yards,  all  laid 
with  steel  rails,  connecting  with  all  the  rail- 
roads centering  in  Chicago.  Within  an  in- 
closure  of  360  acres  are  constructed  the 

TRANSIT  HOUSE 

at  a  cost  of  J$250,000,  which  is  furnished 
first-class  and  is  kept  second  to  none  in  the 
country,  charges  to  stockmen  being  only  $2 
per  day,  or  50  cents  per  meal.  In  the  center 
of  the  yards  is  a  large  two-story -and-a-half 
building  60x380,  with  large  wings  extend- 
ing south  from  either  end,  doubling  the  ca- 
pacity of  the  main  building.  This  is  known, 
as  the  Exchange  Buildinsr,  and  is  divided  up 
as  follows:  Large  Board  of  Trade  hall,  main 
offices  for  Stock  Yards  Company,  Superin- 
tendent's, Secretary's,  and  Treasurer's  offices, 
telegraph  and  telephone  offices,  postoffice, 
restaurant  60x80,  spacious  saloon,  packers' 
offices,  offices  for  Eastern  shippers,  barber 
shop,  news  stand,  fruit  stand,  and  about  150 
offices  for  commission  merchants  who  take 
charge  of  and  sell  stock  consigned  to  them; 
the  Union  Stock  Yards  National  Bank  building. 
40x60;  twenty  large  hay  barns,  as  many 
more  large  corn  cribs,  twenty  scale-houses, 
each  containing  one  of  Fairbank's  improved 
scales  with  a  capacity  for  weighing 
three  or  four  car-loads  of  cattle  or  hogs  at  a 
draft;  machine  shops,  depot  buildings,  print- 
ing office,  and  two  dozen  other  buildings 
used  to  transact  business  pertaining  to  the 
receiving  and  shipping  live  stock,  including 
the  grand  new  horse  sales  stables  and  the  ex- 
perimental fat-stock  barn  that  is  always  re- 
plete with  an  assortment  of  different  breeds 
of  cattle.  The  water  supply  is  furnished 
through  the  regular  waterworks  and  a  half- 
dozen  artesian  wells,  a  standpipe,  surrounded 
by  a  tower  150  high,  into  which  the  water  is 


110 


CHICAGO'S  FIKST  HALF  CENTURY. 


forced  by  a  powerful  engine  and  pumps  be- 
ing on  the  spot. 

Cable  and  telegraphic  market  reports  from 
London,  Liverpool,  New  York,  Boston,  Phila- 
delphia, Baltimqre,  Cincinnati,  Buffalo.  East 
Liberty,  Albany,  and  other  markets  both 
East  and  West  are  received  here,  and  reports 
of  this  market  are  telegraphed  each  day  to 
all  Eastern  cities,  Europe,  and  through  com- 
mission firms  to  all  parts  of  the  Western 
States  and  Territories. 

Over  250  acres  of  land  are  under  plank 
and  constructed  as  follows:  About  150  acres 
are  in  cattle  yards  and  about  100  acres  of 
covered  hog  and  sheep  pens;  2,000  cattle 
pens  sufficient  to  yard  25,000  cattle;  1,500 
hog  pens  sufficient  to  hold  200,000  hogs; 
300  sheep  pens  that  will  accommodate  15,- 
OOOBheep;  stabling  for  2,500  horses;  2,000 
car-loads  of  stock  can  be  unloaded  and  taken 
care  of  daily;  over  20  miles  of  macadamized 
streets  run  through  different  parts  of  the 
yards,  and  over  50  miles  of  water  and  drain- 
age pipes,  forming  a  perfect  network,  run 
underneath  the  yards.  There  are  about  10 
miles  of  viaducts  and  elevated  roadway. 
Nearly  1,000  men  are  constantly  employed 
throughout  the  different  departments.  Al- 
though the  contributors  to  this  market  cover 
the  territory  from  British  Columbia 
to  Old  Mexico,  and  the  intermediate 
country,  at  no  single  season  since 
the  foundation  of  the  yards  has 
there  has  been  as  many  strange  shippers  on 
this  market  as  during  the  past  year,  and  the 
natural  supposition  is  that  with  the  rapid 
development  of  the  West  now  going  on  this 
will  continue.  If  those  unacquainted  with 
the  manner  of  doing  business  here  are  desir- 
ous of  patronizing  this  market,  if  they  will 
address  a  letter  of  inquiry  or  call  on  the  Sec- 
retary at  his  office  in  the  yards,  he  will  with 
pleasure  give  the  information  that  will  ena- 
ble any  stranger  to  become  thoroughly 
posted 'respecting  the  market  and  the  man- 
ner of  doing  business  here.  All  stock  con- 
signed to  these  yards,  whether  in  charge  of 
man  or  not,  will  receive  prompt  attention 
and  as  good  care  as  though  the  owner  him- 
self were  along  to  see  to  it,  as  all  the  men  in 
the  employ  of  the  Stock  Yard  Company  are 
experienced  in  the  handling  ana  cafe  of 
stock.  The  volume  of  business  during  the 
past  year  will  exceed  two  hundred  millions. 
In  another  place  will  be  found  the  commer- 
cial report  giving  the  business  statistics  of 
this  market  since  its  foundation. 

The  following-named  gentlemen  are  the 
officers  of  the  above  corporation :  Nathaniel 
Thayer,  President;  John  B.  Sherman,  Vice 
President  and  General  Manager;  G.  Titus 
Williams,  General  Superintendent;  George  T. 
Williams,  Secretary  and  Treasurer;  J.  C. 
Denison,  Assistant  Secretary. 

ARMOUR    Sc    CO. 

AN  ENORMOUS  BUSINESS. 

In  almost  every  line  of  business  there  will 
be  found  men  particularly  suited  to  the 
undertakings  in  which  they  are  engaged. 
They  rise  above  and  show  themselves  superior 
to  the  common  run  of  business  men,  so  that 
in  the  course  of  time  they  become  leaders  in 
their  respective  branches  of  trade.  The  suc- 
cesses of  the«e  men  in  some  instances  is 
marvelous,  and  is  often  attributed  to  circum- 
stances and  good  luck.  This  rule,  however, 
when  the  true  facts  in  the  case  are  t  iken 
into  consideration,  will  be  found  at  fault,  of 


which  the  firm  whose  name  heads  this  article 
bears  ample  witness.  The  head  of  the  firm 
Philip  D.  Armour,  as  is  well  known,  started 
as  a  poor  boy,  and  the  fact  that  he  now 
superintends  and  controls  the  largest  busi- 
ness enterprise  of  its  kind  in  Chicago  is  due 
to  no  freaks  of  luck  or  chance,  but  to  the 
fact  that  he  was  possessed  with  an  abund- 
ance of  pluck  and  enterprise,  added  to  which 
was  the  gift  of  a  keen  business  sense,  which 
aided  him  in  taking  advantage  of  oppor- 
tunities when  offered.  In  the  brief  space  al- 
lotted it  would  be  impossible  to  give  any- 
thing like  a  complete  description  of  the  im- 
mense business  transacted  by  this  firm  during 
the  past  year  Suffice  it  to  say  that  their 
sales  in  the  various  branches  show  a  marked 
increase  over  all  previous  years.  For  the 
year  1882  they  slaughtered  and  shipped  in 
refrigerator  cars  120,000  head  of  cattle;  for 
the  year  ending  Nov.  1,  1883.  their  books 
show  an  increase  of  131,000,  making  251,000 
in  alL  In  addition  to  these  over  1,020,000 
head  of  hogs  were  killed  and  dressed  for  the 
market,  their  sales  amounting  to  over  $30  - 
000,000.  The  excellent  qualities  of  the 
prepared  meats  turned  out  by  this  firm  are 
so  well  known  throughout  this  country  and 
Europe  that  it  is  scarcely  deemed  necessary 
to  speak  of  them  at  length  in  a  review  of 
this  kind.  No  better  proof  as  to  the  good 
quality  of  their  meats  need  be  given  than  the 
constantly  increasing  demand  made  for  them 
from  year  to  year.  In  addition  to  their  great 
Chicago  establishment  the  firm  has  branch 
houses  at  Milwaukee  and  Kansas  City.  Both 
of  the  latter  have  done  a  large  'business 
(luring  the  last  year. 

SOUTH    BEND. 


O'BRIEN    TARNISH    "VfORKS. 

BLECTRIC  PKEVUNO. 

Among  the  most  promising  manufactories 
of  South  Bend  is  the  large  and  perfectly  ar- 
ranged varnish  works  of  Mr.  P.  O'Brien,  the 
inventor  of  the  Electric  Priming,  which  has 
a  popularity  earned  by  far  surpassing  and 
completely  revolutionizing  all  other  sys- 
tems. These  works  have  just  been  com- 
pleted, and  they  are  the  model  ones  in  their 
line.  A  demand  for  the  O'Brien  brand  of 
varnishes  will  be  the  result  wherever  these 
goods  are  known. 

THE    COQUILLARD    WAGON. 

THK  FARMERS'  FAVORITE. 

These  wagons  are  made  of  the  best  wood 
and  iron  to  be  procured,  and  put  together  by 


the  most  experienced  workmen.  Every  one  i^ 
warranted  to  give  satisfaction,  both  in  regard 
to  the  quality  of  material  and  workmanship. 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  TTAT.TT  CENTUJRI. 


Ill 


They  are  also  noted  for  their  lightness  of 
draft  and  ease  of  running.  Carriages,  bug- 
gies, and  sleighs  of  superior  workmanship 
always  on  hand.  Send  for  circular  and  price 
list  to  A.  Coquillard,  South  Bend,  Ind.  This 
manufactory  is  one  of  the  best  conducted 
and  most  successful  in  tne  West  Its  owner 
is  not  only  a  superior  business  man,  but  also 
a  practical,  careful,  and  experienced 
mechanic,  with  a  rare  grasp  of  all  that  is  nec- 
essary to  perfection  in  mechanics. 

SISTERS  OF  THE  HOI/IT  CROSS. 

The  cut  below  correctly  represents  the 
very  superior  school  conducted  by  the  Sis- 
ters of  the  Holy  Cross  at  Notre  Dame,  Ind. 
A  careful  examination  of  this  institution  re- 
Teals  a  rery  remarkable  proficiency  on  the 
part  of  pupils.  The  course  is  most  thorough. 
All  of  the  studies  that  inform,  refine,  and 
mold  the  child  into  the  finished  woman  are 
here  given  in  their  entirety.  Graduates  from 
St  Mary's  are  fitted  for  teachers  as  few  can 


of  them  are  occupying1  high  positions  in  so- 
ciety. Others,  as  teachers,  musicians,  and 
artists,  are  receiving  the  praise  of  all  who 
know  them.  Tne  fullest  information  will  be 
furnished  freely.  Apply  for  a  catalogue 

PORTLAND    CEMENT. 

AT  SOUTH  BEND. 

MUlen  <k  Sons,  Stove  and  Pipe  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  of  South  Bend,  present  the 
oil  owing  extracts  from  testimonials: 

"Extra  good  quality." — Geo.  C.  Morgan  & 
Oo. ,  hydraulic  engineers.  Chicago. 

"Given  entire  satisfaction." — Charles  Carr, 
Supt  B  &  B.  Canada  Southern  Railway. 

"Superior  to  stone." — Norman  T.  Beckley, 
General  Manager  C.,  W.  and  M.  Railroad. 

"The  best  Portland  cement. "— D.  W.  Flagler, 
Lieutenant  Colonel  commanding  at  Rock  Isl- 
and Arsenal. 

"Not  surpassed  by  any  Portland  cement  in 


MARY'S  ,  NOTRE-  DAME  IND! 


be  in  the  more  superficial  seminaries.  French 
and  German  are  taught  by  native  teachers, 
drawing  and  painting  by  artists  of  merit 
The  conservatory  of  music  is  perhaps  the 
best  in  the  West.  The  school  is  open  to  all 
who  will  conform  to  its  very  beneficial  rules 
regarding  morals  and  behavior.  Religious 
studies  are  not  required  of  its  scholars  unless 
prescribed  by  their  parents.  The  grounds 
are  extensive,  varied,  and  most  beautiful 
The  location  is  very  healthful.  The  school 
contains  a  large  number  of  excellent  pianos, 
besides  other  musical  instruments;  a  mu- 
seum of  minerals,  fossils,  and  other  geologi- 
cal curiosities  rarely  found  in  Western 
schools.  The  art  rooms  are  profusely  strewn 
with  all  the  paraphernalia  of  the  sculptors 
and  painters'  studios.  Many  of  the  produc- 
tions indicate  rare  advance  in  both  modern 
and  ancient  artistic  work. 

Special  care  is  given  to  correctly  teaching 
the  practical  features  of  decorative  art,  now 
so  popular  in  all  refined  communir/ies.  The 
graduates  of  St.  Mary's  Academy  have  re- 
flected credit  upod  their  alma  mater.  Many 


the  world."— John  Collett,  State  Geologist  for 
Indiana. 

The  works  are  extensive  and  the  business 
done  is  rapidly  increasing. 

DR.    J.    A.    McGHX, 

OF   SOUTH  BEND,   IND., 

an  old  practitioner  of  medicine,  and 
for  years  making  female  diseases  a 
specialty  with  unparalleled  success,  will 
now  give  to  the  public  his  great 
specific  for  female  diseases  called  Orange 
Blossom.  The  specific  "Orange  Blossom  Ab- 
sorbent" will  cause  a  new  departure  in  the 
treatment  of  those  diseases,  and  will  do 
away  with  nearly  all  surgical  operations 
whereby  so  many  precious  lives  have  been 
lost  It  has  proved  in  more  than  a  thousand 
of  the  worst  cases  to  be  a  positive  cure  for 
female  diseases.  The  Orange  Blossom 
method  of  treatment  is  being  used  by  some 
of  the  best  physicians  in  the  country,  and 
the  workings  of  th«  specific  pronounced 
marvelous. 


112 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


ROCKFORD. 

THE   BOSS   A>TD    ACME    CHURNS. 

THEIB   MEKIT8. 


The  above  cut  represents  a  churn  that  is 
simplicity  itself,  and  yet  it  ranks  first  best 
with  experienced  butter-makers  all  over  the 
West.  Your  representative  visited  the  fac- 
tory at  Rockford,  and  was  astonished  at  the 
showing  made  by  H.  H.  Palmer  &  Co.,  the 
owners  of  the  patents  for  the  Boss  and  Acme 
churns.  Over  forty  thousand  of  these  churns 
have  been  sold  during  the  past  year.  They 
are  made  of  the  best  white  oak;  and 
are  kept  sweet  and  clean  with  little  care, 
because  there  are  no  corners  in  them  or  joints 
that  can  be  opened  with  pressure. 

These  churns  have  taken  first  premiums  at 
the  Illinois  State  Fair.  They  are  used  by 
such  creameries  as  the  Madison  street 
creamery  in  Chicago,  where  1,000  pounds  of 

En  re  cream  bu  tter  are  made  per  day.     The 
Kllowing    indorsements     speak    for    them- 
selves: 

"OLYMPIA,  W.  T.,  Feb.  9,  1883.— Your 
churn  takes  well;  everyone  that  sees  it  likes 
it  I  would  not  take  four  times  what  I  paid 
for  mine  and  do  without  until  I  could  send 
and  get  another.  In  fact,  I  consider  it  a 
priceless  treasure  in  my  business.  Respect- 
fully, '  MRS.  C.  G.  TYLER." 

One  agent  writes  us  from  Clinton,  Mo., 
under  date  of  Sept.  4.  1883:  4%J.  R.  Camp- 
lin.  dairyman,  has  used  the  Little  Boss, 
Rectangular,  Union,  and  Cylinder  churns, 
and  is  now  using  the  H.  H.  Palmer 
<fe  Co.'s  Boss  barrel  churn,  and  thinks  it 
superior  to  all  others." 

A.  P.  Frowlin,  Cashier  Henry  County 
Bank,  Clinton,  Mo. ;  S.  Jones,  physician, 
Clinton,  Mo.  ;D.  W.  Bennett,  farmer,  Clinton, 
Mo.;  R.  S.  Hastin,  farmer,  Clinton,  Mo.,  and 
many  others,  all  recommend  it. 

R.  B.  PORTIS. 

BUTTER    COLOR. 

•  TT   TAKES   THE  PREMIUM. 

The  Bean  &  Perry  Manufacturing  Company, 
of  Rockford,  was  Interviewed  by  a  Trade 


Review  commissioner,  and  their  extensive 
works  carefully  examined.  The  science  of 
chemistry,  money,  and  careful  research  has 
been  lavishly  bestowed  upon  perfecting  a 
natural  color  for  the  butter  made  in  off  sea- 
sons, and  the  result  is  the  June  butter  color 
made  by  this  company.  Its  perfection  has 
been  admitted  by  numerous  awarding 
committees,  notably  that  of  the  Ohio  State 
Fair  of  this  year.  In  fact,  medals,  diplomas, 
and  first  premiums  are  familiar  decorations 
in  the  company's  office.  The  following  points 
are  claimed  for  this  preparation,  and  its  his- 
tory more  than  justifies  these  claims  of  the 
manufacturers : 

1.  It  does  not  color  the  buttermilk. 

2.  It  contains  no  acids  or  alkalies,  conse- 
quently   works  uniformly,  no  matter  what 
degree  of  sourness  the  cream  may  possess. 

3.  It  gives  the  butter  a  natural  June  color. 

4.  Butter  colored  with  it  brings  the  high- 
est market  price. 

5.  It  is  entirely  harmless,  saves  time,  labor, 
and  returns  you  $20  for  every  $1  invested. 

6.  It  imparts  no  taste  to  the  butter. 

7.  Perfect  keeping  qualities;    it  does  not 
mold  or  sour  in  any  way.     It  has  a  decided 
tendency  to  preserve  butter. 

8.  It  requires  no  labor,  as  it  is  a  liquid  that 
is  put  in  with  the  cream  in  the  churn. 

The  following  indorsements  from  the  most 
prominent  dairymen  in  the  country  speak 
decisively  as  to  the  superiority  of  the  June 
butter  color: 

Gives  perfect  satisfaction. — John  Wilhelm, 
Jr..  Wooster,  Ohio. 

It  is  the  most  natural  color,  and  you  are 
deserving  of  great  credit  for  your  skill  in- 
perfecting  so  good  and  valuable  an  article. — 
D.  W.  Pettitt,  Secretary  Belvidere  Butter  and 
Cheese  Manufacturing  Company. 

Never  found  one  that  would  compare  with 
it — R.  S.  Houston,  winner  of  the  first  prize 
for  butter  at  Wisconsin  fair. 

Could  not  be  induced  to  use  any  other. — 
John  T.  Fisk,  manager  Sigourney  Creamery. 

Prefer  it  to  any  we  have  used  "in  the  last 
six  years.— J.  E.  Eldridge  &  Bro.,  Earlville, 
Iowa. 

Better  than  any  we  have  used  before. — 
Parker  Hildebrand  &  Co.,  Boscobel,  Wis. 

We  find  yours  preferable  by  far. — A.  Ayers 
&  Son,  Cedar  Falls,  Iowa 

These  indorsements  could  be  indefinitely 
continued,  but  the  above  extracts  are  suffi- 
ciently indicative. 

The  following  announcement  will  be  of  in- 
terest to  all  who  make  butter  for  the  market: 
"The  Bean  &  Perry  Manufacturing  Company, 
of  Rockford,  111.,  will  prepay  express  charuvs 
and  ship  securely  packed  to  any  address  one 
of  their  dollar  bottles  of  June  butter  color  on 
receipt  of  $1.'' 

ROCKFORD  (ILL.)  BUSINESS  COLLEGE. 

A  LIVE  INSTITUTION. 

This  is  a  live  institution,  affording  a  most 
thorough  and  valuable  course  of  business 
training,  together  with  instruction  in  tho 
common  and  higher  English  brandies,  fully 
meeting  from  a  common  sense  standpoint 
the  educational  demands  of  the  present. 
Elocution,  short-hand,  and  type-writing  are 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


113 


among  the  specialties  taught.  Journals, 
circulars,  etc. ,  are  sent  upon  application  to 
the  principals,  Messra  Winans  &  Stoddard. 

AURORA. 


THE  AMKRJLC AN   WELL  WORKS. 


The  Studebakers  as  wagon  makers  and  the 
Olivers  as  plow  makers  occupy  common 
ground  with  the  Chapmans  as  wel 
makers.  Each  justly  claims  to  be 
the  best  and  the  greatest  in  his 
line.  THE  INTEE  OCEAN'S  Trade  Review  com- 
missioner visited  these  works,  located  at 
Aurora,  111.,  where  they  manufacture  well 
sinking  machinery  and  an  extra  strong1 
windmill,  the  American  Advance,  which,  be- 
ng  wrought-iron  mounted,  they  claim  has 
never  been  blown  away.  They  are  so  confi- 
dent in  their  hydraulic  jetting  and  blowing 
well  sinking  machinery  that  they  will  sink 
the  first  well  for  parties  buying  tools  and 
guarantee  water  free  from  the  surface  alkali 
or  ask  no  pay.  Well  sinking  is  a  science  and 
controlled  by  numerous  patents,  the  knowl- 
edge of  which  they  give  only  to  parties  pur- 
chasing their  tools.  They  are  supplying 
wells  for  seventy  steam  elevators  owned  by 
Pillsbury  and  Hurlbut  Elevating  Company, 
of  Minneapolis;  are  sinking  wells  also  on  the 
Colorado  plains  for  th«  B.  &  M.  Railway  Com- 
pany where  water  was  not  known.  The 
wells  sunk  for  the  C.  &  N.  W.  Railway  Com- 
pany are  a  complete  success.  R.  W.  Hoyt, 
R.  Q.  M.  at  Ft.  Fully,  recommends  the  tools 
of  this  company  in  the  strongest  terms. 
Hundreds  of  feet  are  often  made  with  these 
tools  without  removing  them  from  the  hole. 
They  make  a  well  very "quickly  and  give  large 
returns  to  the  well  sinker. 

THE  HOTEL  EVANS, 

AT  AURORA, 

111.,  has  been  so  completely  revolutionized 
inside  and  out  that  oae  would  hardly  recog- 
nize it.  N.  H.  Wood,  the  present  proprietor, 
is  a  veteran  hotel-keeper,  and  keeps  his  house 
in  a  professional  and  not  in  the  amateur 
style.  No  one  coming  to  Aurora  can  now 
complain  of  the  town  as  being  without  a 
first-class  hotel. 

WOOLEN  MILLS. 

THE  SHIP  DIRECT. 

Aurora  has  a  most  excellent  woolen  mill, 
the  property  of  J.  G.  Stolp  &  Son,  well-known 


throughout  this  part  of  the  country  as  prac- 
tical manufacturers  of  a  very  superior  line  of 
staple  and  fancy  all-wool  cassimeres.  By 
shipping  direct  from  the  mill  commissions, 
enormous  rents,  and  other  expenses  that  are 
saddled  upon  the  purchaser  are  saved,  and 
the  firm  will  prove  this.  Dealers  are  solicited 
to  write  and  receive  facts  in  detail.  Samples 
are  sent  regularly  to  customers  who  desire  to 
keep  posted  on  the  new  patterns.  THE  INTER 
OCEAN  can  indorse  the  firm  of  J.  G.  Stolp  & 
Son  as  being  one  of  the  oldest  and  best  man- 
ufacturing houses  in  Hlinoia 


KENOSHA. 


NORTHWESTERN  WIRE  MATTRESS  CO. 

AT  KENOSHA. 

Of  many  thriving  interests  in  the  city  of 
Kenosha,  perhaps  the  most  notable  is  that  of 
the  Northwestern  Wire  Mattress  Company. 
Their  shops  are  very  conveniently  situated 
on  the  lake  shore,  so  near  the  harbor  and  a 
track  of  the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  Rail- 
way as  fco  require  but  little  expense  in 
handling  and  shipping  material.  Their  lum- 
ber is  mostly  cut  from  the  forests  of  Michi- 
gan, and  brought  here  during  the  spring  and 
summer  months  and  allowed  to  season  about 
one  year  before  being  put  into  the  dry-kiln 
preparatory  to  use.  Although  the  principal 
item  of  manufacture  is  woven-wire  mat- 
tresses, there  is  an  immense  output  of  frames 
required  by  other  manufacturers  of  mat- 
tresses throughout  the  country.  None  of  the 
lumber  goes  to  waste,  as  the  remnants  are 
made  up  into  a  variety  of  smaller  articles. 
such  as  clothes-frames,  towel-rollers,  etc., 
making  quite  a  catalogue.  This  company 
was  established  about  seven  years  ago.  and, 
beginning  in  a  small  way,  has  grown,  under 
the  direction  and  general  oversight  of  the 
Hon.  Z.  G.  Simmons,  to  be  one  of  the  largest 
factories  of  if  kind.  It  is  in  contemplation 
by  the  management  to  erect,  early  in  the 
coming  year,  a  new  factory,  which  will 
more  than  double  its  present  large  capacity. 


MILWAUKEE. 


PHOTOGRAPHS. 

E.  D.  BANGS'    ESTABLISHMENT. 

One  of  the  oldest  and  best  established  pho- 
tograph galleries  in  Milwaukee,  and  the  place 
where  you  can  get  the  best  pictures  for  the 
least  money,  is  at  E.  D.  Bangs',  at  86  Wiscon- 
sin street  Parties  from  the  country  desir- 
ous of  getting  the  best  quality  of  cabinet 
photographs  at  prices  that  can't  be  equaled 
in  the  country  towns  should  call  at  Bangs' 
gallery.  The  best  grade  of  cabinet  photo- 
graphs furnished  at  $3. 50  per  dozen. 

GOLDEN  EAGLE  CLOTHING  HOUSE. 

ELEGANT   AND   EXTENSIVE. 

One  of  the  most  elegant  in  its  appointments 
and  extensive  in  the  stock  carried  of  the 
many  clothing  houses  of  this  city  is  the 
Golden  Eagle  Clothing  House,  managed  by 
R.  T.  Goodrich.  There  is  not  a  citizen  of 
Milwaukee  who  does  not  take  pleasure  in 
pointing  out  to  visitors  the  Golden  Eagle  as 
the  perfect  clothing  house.  And,  when  it  is 
considered  that  it  is  the  handsomest  and 


114 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


best  lighted  and  furnished  establishment  of 
its  kind  in  America  and  the  largest  in  the 
Northwest,  it  will  be  seen  that  there  is  good 
reason  for  the  pride  taken  in  it.  The  fame  of 
the  Golden  Eagle  extends  from  the  Atlantic 
to  the  Pacific,  and  none  have  done  more  to 
build  up  that  fame  than  the  Milwaukee 
branch  of  this  immense  clothing  house. 

JEWELRY,  WATCHES.  CLOCKS. 

O.  L.  EOSENCEANS    &   CO. 

The  place  to  buy  jewelry  and  watches  and 
clocks  of  ail  the  best  manufacture  is  at  O.  L. 
Eosencrans&  Co.  's,  corner  of  Broadway  and 
Wisconsin  street,  Milwaukee.  The  known 
reliability  of  the  house  is  assurance  enough 
that  everything  purchased  is  just  as  repre- 
sented, _ 

HARDWARE,  SCROLL   MATERAL,  SAWS. 

FBANKFUBTH   &  CO.,  JOBBERS. 

At  Win.  Frankfurth  &  Co.'s,  jobbers  in 
hardware,  at  Milwaukee,  everything  in  the 
line  of  scroll  material,  fancy  wood  saws,  de- 
signs, etc. ,  can  be  purchased.  At  this  house 
a  full  assortment  of  Hobson's  English  choice 
cast  steel  is  kept  In  the  stove  line,  Bram- 
hell  &  Deener's  French  ranges.  Monitor  oil 
stoves,  and  all  the  other  standard  goods  are 
kept.  Frankfurth  &  Co. 's  is  the  oldest  .and 
largest  hardware  jobbing  house  in  Milwau- 
kee, and  you  can  find  there  everything  that 
can  be  found  in  any  other  jobbing  house  in 
the  United  States,  and  something  besides. 

BUSINESS    COLLEGE. 

THE    SPENCERIAK. 

The  Spencerian  Business  College,  Milwau- 
kee, E.  C.  Spencer,  proprietor,  is  one  of  the 
oldest  and  best  institutions  of  its  kind,  does 
thorough  work,  and  is  largely  attended  by 
both  sexes.  Circulars  free  to  any  addresa 

MAPS,  SHOW  CARDS,  ETC. 

SILAS  CHAPMAN. 

Silas  Chapman,  map  publisher  and  manu- 
facturer. 124  Grand  avenue.  Sectional  maps 
of  Wisconsin,  Milwaukee  County,  city  of  Mil- 
waukee, Douglas,  Ashland,  and  Bayfield 
Counties,  Menominee  Iron  Range,  etc.  Maps 
illustrated.  Show  cards,  etc.,  mounted  to 
order.  Map  estimates  furnished  free. 


OSHKOSH. 

CURE  FOR  CONSUMPTION. 

OSHKOSH    MEDICAL    AND    SUEGICAL  INFIBMABT. 

There  is  located  at  Oshkosh,  Wis. ,  a  medi- 
cal institution  called  the  Oshkosh  Medical 
and  Surgical  Infirmary,  chartered  by  the 
State,  and  owned  and  controlled  by  the  Lon- 
don Medical  Association,  which  is  proving  to 
be  one  of  the  most  successful  institutions  of 
the  kind  ever  established  in  the  West.  It  is 
comparatively  new,  but  its  capital  stock  is 
$23,000,  to  that  it  has  been  able  to  supply 


itself  with  all  the  appliances  and  advantages 
to  be  found  in  any  medical  institution  in  the 
United  States.  The  President  of  the  institu- 
tion is  Dr.  Kensington,  and  besides  him  five 
other  physicians  are  connected  with  it.  One 
of  the  leading  features  of  the  establishment 
is  its  laboratory  for  the  manufacture  of  com- 
pound oxygen,  that  great  remedy  for  con- 
sumption. The  large  force  of  physicians  em- 
ployed renders  it  possible  to  give  home  as  well 
as  office  treatment.  The  wonderful  cures 
effected,  evidences  of  which  can  be  found  on 
file  at  the  infirmary,  prove  it  to  be  worthy  of 
the  patronage  of  the  afflicted  from  airsec- 
t'ons  of  this  country.  Patients  from  other 
Stat  3S  and  different  parts  of  Wisconsin  can 
get  hoard  in  private  families  while  receiving 
treatment 


RACINE. 


THE   DICKEY  FANNING  MILLS. 

EACDTE,   WIS., 

has  one  of  the  most  enterprising  manufactur- 
ing firms  in  the  Northwest— Messrs.  Dickey  & 
Pease — who  make  a  specialty  of  the  cele- 
brated "A.  P.  Dickey's"  Fanning  Mills,  used  in 
every  part  of  the  civilized  world. 


They  also  manufacture  the  "Acme"  Dust- 
less  Grain  Separators,  bob-sleighs,  and  all 
kinds  of  agricultural  implements.  This  house 
always  turns  out  first-class  gooda 


WAUKEGAN. 


POWELL    &    DOUGLAS. 

CHAMPION  WIND     MILL. 

One  of  the  most  enter- 
prising manufacturers  in  the 
West  is  the  firm  of  Powell  & 
Douglas,  Waukegan,  111.  They 
manufacture  the  world-re- 
nowned Champion  Wind 
Mill.  Their  sales  for  this 
season  has  more  than  doubled 
over  last.  Where  they  have 
no  one  handling  their  mills 
they  want  a  good  agent. 
They  aJsu  manufacture  the  Starwood  Pumps, 
Boss  Sickle  Grinders,  hunting  and  pleasure 
boats,  keeping  in  stock  the  finest  line  of 
rowboats  ever  made  in  the  United  States. 
They  also  make  to  order  sail  and  steam 
yachts.  And  any  one  that  wishes  any  of 
these  goods  may  write  them  for  Catalogue  A 
for  wind  mills  and  pumps,  or  Catalogue  B 
for  boats. 


CHAPTER  XIL 


CHEAPER  GAS. 

THE  MONOPOLY  BROKEN. 

THB  CONSUMERS'  GAS,  FUEL,  AND  iiGHT  COM- 
PANY COMMENCES  BUSINESS. 

Now  that  the  Consumers'  Gas,  Fuel,  and 
Light  Company  is  an  accomplished  fact, 
demonstrated  by  the  large  amount  of  money 
invested  in  this  commendable  enterprise  and 
also  by  the  extensive  character  of  the  plant 
erected,  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  impress  upon 
the  citizens  of  Chicaero  the  necessity  of  sup- 
porting this  company  by  their  patronage, 
which,  if  tendered  in  the  liberal  manner 
characteristic  of  our  people,  must  result  in 
the  future  in  the  perpetual  permanence  of 
the  price  of  gas  now  offered  by  the  new 
company,  thus  proving  another  entering 
wedge  in  rending  asunder  the  monstrous 
monopoly  that  has  preyed  upon  the  vitals  of 
a  powerless  public  by  the  systematic  exac- 
tion of  extortionate  charges  for  a  poor  qual- 
ity of  gas,  which  has  deteriorated  from  year 
to'  year  until  it  has  become  almost  valueless 
as  a  desirable  illuminant. 

THE  INTEB  OCEAN,  ever  ready  to  encourage 
the  formation  of  enterprises  of  public  useful- 
ness and  benefit,  and  especially  those  that 
tend  toward  the  disruption  and  breaking 
down  of  odious  monopolies  that  have  become 
enriched  at  the  expense  of  the  taxpayers  al- 
ready burdened  with  oppressive  taxes. 

TO  WHOM  CHICAGO  OWES  IT. 

It  is  but  just  and  proper  that  this  journal 
should  accord  the  meed  of  praise  to  the  trio 
of  gentlemen  who  inaugurated  this  grand 
enterprise,  planning  and  projecting  and  con- 
structing the  immense  buildings  containing 
the  latest  improved  devices  and  machinery 
for  the  production  of  pure  gas,  brilliant  as 
the  stars  that  stud  the  blue  arched  dome  of 
heaven,  manufactured  by  honest  men  with 
honest  purposes  at  honest  prices  for  honest 
consumers. 

These  gentlemen  to  whom  we  refer  went 
to  work  with  that  becoming  modesty  which 
stamps  with  the  sterling  seal  of  genius  all 
the  noted  men  of  the  present  age  who  loom 
up  in  the  horizon  of  meritorious  achieve- 
ments as  promoters  of  the  public  weal.  They 
toiled  and  plodded  without  the  adventitious 
aids  of  the  press  or  the  pleasing  blare  of 
trumpet-tongued  commendation.  Their  only 
aim  was  to  construct  works  which  should 
benefit  the  citizensof  a  great  and  enterprising 
city,  which  should  also  in  themselves  attest 
the  fact  that  the  enterprise  of  furnishing 
cheap  gas,  pure  gas,  and  luminous  gas, 
should  be  indicative  and  prove  as  substan- 


tial and  as  permanent  as  the  character  of 
the  plant  erected  under  their  skill,  watchful- 
ness, and  direction. 

The  works  erected  are  confessedly  the 
largest  and  best  constructed  in  America,  not 
wanting  in  the  slightest  detail,  and  are  a 
marvel  of  perfect  engineering  skill. 
They  stand  as  a  lasting  mon- 
ument to  the  energy,  pluck, 
and  genius  of  the  construction  company  and 
will  in  future  years  be  looked  upon  as  the 
beacon  light  from  which  irradiated  the  wel- 
come glare  of  a  pure  and  cheap  gas  and  the 
building  of  which  shattered  forever  the  deep 
laid  schemes  of  a  band  of  monopolists  who 
endeavored  to  bind  a  free  people  with  the 
shackles  of  an  oppressive  extortion. 

THE    OFFICEBS. 

The  gentlemen  to  whom  THE  INTEB  OCEAN 
alludes  are  Messrs.  M.  S.  Frost,  Chairman ; 
Henry  Levis.  Treasurer,  and  J.  Edward  Ad- 
dicks,  all  of  Philadelphia. 

THE  INTEB  OCEAN,  not  satisfied  with  its 
own  expression  of  opinion  and  with  a  view 
to  gauging  the  Belt-declared  utterances  of 
prominent  business  men,  detailed  a  number 
of  its  representatives  to  ascertain  the  opinion 
of  these  gentlemen  regarding  the  luminos- 
ity of  the  gas  introduced  by  the  Consumer^' 
Gas,  Fuel  and  Light  Company,  its  practical 
value  as  an  illuminant,  the  comparative 
merits  of  the  old  and  new  gas,  and  such 
other  expressions  as  they  desired  to  make 
relative  to  the  benefits  conferred  upon  the 
citizens  by  the  new  gas  company  in  their 
laudable  desire  to  furnish  gas  to  the  public 
at  a  reasonable  and  liberal  price,  and  the  rel- 
ative attitude  of  the  old  and  the  new  com- 
panies with  reference  to  their  status  as  con- 
servators or  destroyers  of  public  tran- 
quility,  public  expenditures  and  pub- 
lic happiness.  We  herewith  ap- 
pend a  partial  list  of  the  gentlemen 
interviewed,  our  space  being  too  limited  for 
the  insertion  of  the  opinions  of  all  the  gen- 
tlemen, who,  taken  at  random,  with  singular 
unanimity  heartily  expressed  with  deter- 
mined emphasis  their  earnest  and  honest 
convictions  favorable  to  the  new  candidate 
for  public  favor  and  patronage. 

MR.  EBED  IAMES. 

Mr.  Fred  Eames,  of  the  Commercial  Na- 
tional Bank,  was  subjected  to  a  number  of 
queries  propounded  by  the  interviewer.  In 
reply  he  said  substantially  that  the  citizens 
of  Chicago  were  under  deep  obligations  to 
the  Consumers'  Gas,  Fuel  and  Light  Com- 
pany for  saving  to  them  in  the  aggregate 
millions  of  dollars,  which,  were  it  not  for 
their  competition,  would  otherwise  have 
gone  into  the  tieasuries  of  the  old  companies 


116 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


to  the  detriment  of  the  public.  The  com- 
pany ought  to  be  generously  patronized,  and 
he,  as  a  representative  of  '  the  bank,  would 
extend  to  the  new  company  his  hearty  sup- 
port. A  prompt  and  liberal  extension  of 
patronage  would  make  it  an  utter  impossi- 
bility for  the  old  gas  companies  to  gain 
any  of  the  stock  of  the  Consumers'  Gas 
Company,  and  would  insure  cheap  gas  to  the 
citizens  perpetually.  The  citizens,  he  ob- 
s«rved,  were  in  duty  bound  to  stand  by  the 
new  company,  which  had  inscribed  around 
the  halo  of  its  light  the  motto  of  purity, 
brilliancy,  and  economy. 

nu  HOLMES. 

Ira  Holmes,  the  well-known  broker,  No. 
86  Washington  street,  courteously  assented 
to  the  pumping  process,  which,  having  been 
Timorously  utilized,  elicited  the  views  of  the 
gentleman.  He  remarked  that  he  was  de- 
lighted with  the  new  gas.  as  one  burner  gave 
as  much  light  as  three  gas  burners  of  the  old 
company.  He  never  saw  such  poor  gas  in 
kis  life  as  that  furnished  by  the  old  mo- 
nopoly during  the  past  eight  months. 
What  surprised  him  was  the  fact  that 
with  competition  staring  the  old  monopolies 
in  the  face  that  they  should  have  given  the 
citizens  such  poor  'gas  lately,  which  in  his 
opinion  was  constantly  deteriorating  in 
luminosity.  He  understood  that  at  present 
prices  a  fair  profit  could  be  realized  by  the 
gas  companies  on  the  capital  invested,  and 
he  regarded  it  as  a  burning  shame  that  the 
old  monopoly  should  have  been  so  devoid  of 
conscience  as  to  fasten  its  ravenous,  in- 
satiable teeth  into  the  body  of  the 
public  for  so  long  a  period  in 
order  to  drain  its  life  blood. 
He  hailed  with  pleasure  the  advent  of  the 
Consumers'  Gas,  Fuel  and  Light  Company, 
and  should  use  their  brilliant  gas  ex- 
clusively. He  also  said  that  the  new  gas 
does  not  freeze,  which  makes  it  invaluable 
to  all  He  had  been  annoyed  by  the  freezing 
of  the  gas  in  the  pipes  of  the  old  company 
connected  with  nis  premises.  He  had 
never  in  his  experience  been  bothered  with 
such  poor  gas  as  that  furnished  by  the  old 
concern,  and  in  conclusion  declared  most 
emphatically  that  he  would  not  take  the  old 
gas  for  nothing,  even  if  he  had  to  pay  $3. 75 
per  thousand  for  the  gas  of  the  Consumers' 
Company. 

MB.     WILLIS    HOWE, 

of  the  Palmer  House,  in  response  to  the  in- 
terrogatories of  the  knight  of  the  Faber, 
observed  that  the  new  illuminant  was  in 
every  respect  a  pleasing  innovation  and  as 
much  superior  to  the  old  gas  as  day  is 
to  night  The  guests  of  his  hostelry  had 
come  to  him  unsolicited,  not  knowing 
of  the  change  made  in  the  meters,  and  had 
commented  favorably  upon  the  brilliancy 
of  the  new  gas  light.  In  a  number  of  the 
rooms  guests  were  using  one  burner  only, 
where  formerly  they  had  three  and 
four  burners  lit  The  gas  was  clearer 
whiter  and  of  a  denser  illuminating  power. 
He  believed  that  the  thanks  of  the  commun- 
ity should  be  extended  to  the  Consumers' 
Gas,  Fuel,  and  Light  Company  for  what  they 
had  done  in  bringing  gas  down  to  a  reason- 
able figure  and  for  affording  the  citizens  the 
opportunity  of  supplying  themselves  with  a 
better  illuminant.  The  new  company  were 
satisfied  with  a  fair  interest  upon  the  capital 
invested,  had  strangled  an  odious  monopoly, 
ought  to  be  liberally  and  earnestly  supported, 
and  had  proven  themselves  to "  be  in  every 
sense  of  the  word  public  benefactors.  A 


number  of  citizens  had  come  to  him  with  the 
statement  that  their  bills  at  $1  per  thousand 
feet — the  present  price  of  the  moribund 
monopoly — were  larger  than  at  the  former 
price  of  $2.75  per  thousand  feet,  charged 
prior  to  Nov.  1 ;  or,  in  other  words,  while  the 
gas  was  ostensibly  $1  per  thousand  the  bills 
at  the  end  of  the  inontu  showed  an  increase 
over  former  bills.  In  conclusion  he  said  he 
was  well  pleased  with  the  gas  and  its  splen- 
did illuminating  power. 

CHAPIN   &   GOBE. 

Mr.  Carter,  a  member  of  this  noted  firm, 
was  plied  with  pertinent  queries  regarding 
the  value  of  the  new  gaslight.  He  fully 
corroborated  Mr.  Howe  regarding  the  oner- 
ous increase  of  the  monthly  bills  of  the  old 
monopoly.  He  declared  that  the  reduction 
to  $1  was  simply  a  delusion  and  a  snare,  as 
his  bill  for  the  month  of  November  charge 
for  gas  consumed  at  his  residence  was  larger 
than  when  he  paid  the  same  company 
$3.25  per  thousand  feet.  using  a"s 
his  family  did  the  same  quantity  of 
gas.  He  was  much  pleased  with  the  new 
light.  It  exceeded  his  expectations,  and  he 
for  one  was  thankful  that  the  conscienceless 
concern  had  been  punctured  through  its  ye- 
culiar  vitals,  viz. — its  ill-gotten  treasury. 
Mr.  Burtis,  tne  Secretary  of  the  old  company, 
when  spoken  to  about  the  high  price  of  gas 
and  the  Consumers'  Gas,  Fuel,  and  Light 
Company's  intention  to  reduce  gas  to  a  nom- 
inal figure,  laughed  at  the  mention,  saying 
his  company  had  $1,000,000  as  a  reserve 
fund  to  fight  and  squelch  their  new  com- 
petitors. The  gas  in  his  restaurant  had  never 
emitted  so  feeble  and  sickly  a  glare  as  at 
present,  and  they  were  anxious  to  get  it  out 
of  their  premises  as  soon  as  the  Consumers' 
Gas  Company  made  the  connection  with  the 
new  service  pipe. 

D.  B.  FISK  &  co. 

Mr.  D.  B.  Fisk,  of  the  famous  wholesale 
millinery  establishment,  very  courteously 
volunteered  the  information  'that  the  new 
gas  had  just  been  introduced,  and  from 
nis  slight  observation  regarded  it  as  a 
better,  and  much  superior  light  Its 
clearness  and  whiteness  was  particu- 
larly distinguishable.  The  old  concern 
he  considered  as  an  iron-clad  mo- 
nopoly which  had  imposed  upon  the  public 
in  various  ways.  He  cited  instances  of  gen- 
tlemen in  his  employment  who  by  some  over- 
sight failed  to  pay  their  bills  on  the  12th  of 
the  month,  and  the  usual  discounts  were  not 
allowed  to  them,  while  others  that  he  knew 
of  where  the  bills  Had  not  been  paid  till 
a  day  or  so  following  the  12tn  dis- 
counts were  allowed.  When  remonstrated 
with  the  officers  of  the  company  said 
their  rules  were  rigid  and  must  be  strictly 
adhered  to,  that  they  served  one  customer  as 
they  did  all  in  a  similar  manner.  They  were 
clearly  guilty  of  falsifying,  and  as  a  corpora- 
tion were  utterly  irresponsible  when  their 
interests  were  at  stake.  The  new  enterprise 
he  said,  as  far  as  he  could  learn,  was  com- 
posed of  fair-dealing,  reliable  gentlemen, 
and  on  that  account  and  also  the  further 
fact  that  they  were  furnishing  a  beautiful 
gas,  and  had  made  impossible  the  continued 
extortions  of"  a  selfish  monopoly,  that  the 
Consumers'  Gas  Company  had  his  warm  en- 
couragement 

S.   W    JLLLEKTON, 

of  the  firm  of  J.  T.  Lester  &,  Co.,  Chamber  of 
Commerce,  and  one  of  our  leading  citizens, 
did  not  desire  to  be  interviewed.  When  in- 
formed that  THE  INTEB  OCEAN  desired  an  ex- 


CHICAGO'-     FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


117 


pression  of  opinion  relative  to  his  impress- 
ions of  the  new  gas,  he  good-naturedly  re- 
sponded to  the  interviewer  that  when  the 
interests  of  the  public  were  to  be  enhanced 
by  a  public  enterprise  he,  as  a  citizen,  felt  in 
duty-bound  to  extend  his  individual  encour- 
agement and  support.  TQe  new  light  placed 
in  his  mansion  had  evoked  naught  but 
praise  from  the  members  of  his  family  ana 
also  from  visitors;  it  was  a  clear,  beautiful 
white  light.  He  require  I  the  use  of  only  one- 
half  of  the  burners  used  formerly.  Mr.  Aller- 
ton  further  stated  that  he  had  intended  a 
year  ago  to  place  a  gas  machine  in  his  resi- 
dence and  give  up  the  old  gas  because  it  had 
deteriorated  in  quality  and  luminosity  con- 
stantly. The  inception  and  opening  up  of 
the  Consumers'  Gas,  Fuel,  and  Light 
Company  had  obviated  the  perform- 
ance of  this  intention.  The  expend- 
iture of  gas  was  only  half  now  under 
the  new  regime  what  it  had  formerly  been. 
During  November  his  gas  bills  had  been  as 
large  at  f  1  per  1,000  as  they  were  in  Novem- 
ber, 1882,  when  the  price  was  $2.75.  He 
was  glad  the  monopoly  had  been  so  heavily 
sat  upon  by  an  enterprise  composed  of  broad- 
gauged  and  public  spirited  citizens, and  wound 
up  his  remarks  by  declaring  with  determined 
emphasis  that  the  antiquated  bubble  now  be- 
ing pricked  by  the  lash  of  public  indignation 
was  the  damnedest  robbing  concern  on  the 
face  of  the  earth. 

AT   THEMATSON  HOUSE. 

Messrs.  Hunger  Brothers,  of  the  Matteson 
House,  manifested  much  enthusiasm  in  di- 
lating upon  the  merits  of  the  new  light  They 
said  it  was  all  that  it  claimed  to  be,  and  cer- 
tainly exceedingly  satisfactory.  Mr.  L.  ,T. 
Gage,  the  Vice  President  of  the  First  National 
Bank,  had  been  in  the  hotel  and  declared  the 
new  light  a  wonderful  improvement.  The 
antediluvian  monopoly  had  so  imposed  upon 
them  in  furnishing  so  poor  a  gas  at  such  ex- 
tortionate prices,  that  they  had  been  willing 
to  burn  tallow  dips  in  their  hotel  if  they 
could  not  obtain  any  other  gas,  rather  than 
submit  to  the  onerous  exactions  of  a  band  of 
monopolists.  Mr.  Munerer  had  spoken  with 
the  patriarchal  President  of  the  expiring 
monopoly  some  months  ago  with  regard  to 
the  injustice  of  enforcing  the  high  prices 
then  charged.  Mr.  Watkins  simply  indulged 
in  a  boisterous  fit  of  laughter,  conveying  by 
his  conduct  the  impression  that, 
like  Eobinson  Crusoe,  he  was  for  the 
time  being,  "monarch  of  all  he 
surveyed."  Mr.  Munger  remarked 

that  he  would  rather  pay  $2.75,  the  old  price, 
to  the  new  company  than  take  the  gas  from 
the  haughty  monopolists  at  their  present 
price. 

MB.    WARREN  LELAND, 

the  urbane  and  courteous  host  of  the  famed 
Leland  Hotel,  gave  his  views,  which  are  here- 
with presented  for  the  edification  of  the  read- 
ers of  this  journal.  He  proceeded  to  make  a 
comparison  regarding  the  new  light  and  the 
old  flicker,  saying  the  old  coal  gas  was  a  yel- 
low glare,  very  trying  to  the  eyes,  smoky, 
and  objectionable,  while  the  new  water  gas 
was  very  white,  clear,  and  had  greater  candle 
power  and  brilliancy.  He  claimed  it  to  be 
brighter  and  better,  and  desirable  as  a  per- 
fect illuminant.  As  a  financial  enterprise  he 
also  asserted  that  it  would  prove  a  great  suc- 
cess, and  whenever  I  wish  to  make  a  profita- 
ble investment  I  desire  nothing  better  than 
the  stock  of  the  Consumers'  Gas,  Fuel,  and 
Ligrht  Company.  I  tried  to  make  a  contract 
with  the  old  company  for  a  number  of  years 


at  their  present  price,  but  could  not  get  their 
approval.  The  citizens  must  rely  upon  the 
new  organization  for  pure,  brilliant  gas.  He 
was  satisfied  that  reliance  would  never  be 
abused. 

J.    B.    HOXIE, 

one  of  the  enterprising  and  wealthy  citizens 
of  Chicago  was  interviewed  in  his'  palatial 
mansion.  He  arose  reluctantly  from  an 
afternoon  siesta  and  graciously  submit- 
ted to  the  wiles  of  the  reportorial 
fiend.  As  far  as  his  observation 
extended,  he  was  satisfied  that 
the  new  gas  was  a  better  illuminant  by  200 
per  cent  than  the  old  production.  The  suc- 
cess of  the  Consumers'  Gas,  Fuel,  and  Light 
Company  was  now  an  established  fact  ex- 
ceeding the  most  sanguine  expectations  of 
its  projectors  aud  stockholders.  It  had,  he  re- 
marked, a  combination  of  the  wealthiest  stock- 
holders of  any  similar  corporation  either  in 
Europe  or  America,  and  was  already  enabled 
to  declare  a  dividend  of  10  per  cent  upon  its 
bonds  and  stock.  He  declared  the  old  monop- 
oly had  proven  faithless  to  the  interests  of 
the  people,  and  he  felt  safe  in '  asserting  that 
90  per  cent  of  the  business  would  ultimately 
be  secured  by  the  Consumers'  Gas  Company. 
The  enterprise  was  the  most  beneficial  to 
public  interest*  ever  started  in  Chicago,  and 
he  was  glad  that  the  public  had  demonstrated 
its  unchangeable  opposition  to  old  fogyism 
by  warmly  supporting  the  new  company. 

B.  P.  MOULTON, 

prominently  identified  with  Chicago  in- 
terests, and  of  the  firm  of  Reyburn 
&  Hunter,  said  that  the  new  light  was  a  wel- 
come a  ^-  .riendiy  addition  to  his  household. 
He  was  fully  conversant  with  its  superior 
luminosity,  haying  observed  its  workings  in 
over  sixty  cities  of  America.  In  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore  it  nad 
obtained  the  unstinted  conmendation  of  the 
citizens  because  of  its  phenomenal  brilliancy 
and  great  candle  power.  The  finest  print 
could  be  read  by  the  use  of  this  light  with- 
out blurring  the  eye.  The  use  of  the  old 
yellow  f orky  flicker  dazed  the  eye  and  made 
reading  unpleasant  and  undesirable. 

The  citizens  had  never  had  such  poor  gas  in 
their  lives  as  was  furnished  them  by  the  old 
company.  The  bills  were  higher  now  than 
ever,  because  they  had  increased  the  pressure 
through  the  service  pipes,  forcing  air  into  the 
meter,  and  increasing  the  register,  which  ex- 
hibited a  quantity  of  gas  that  had  not  been 
consumed,  but  which  the  consumers  were 
obliged  to  pay  for  all  the  same  in  order  to  sat- 
isfy the  rapacious  money-making  desire  of 
the  monopolistic  directors.  In  conclusion, 
he  said  the  stock  of  the  old  company  had  gone 
down  from  180  to  100  per  share,  which  was 
the  truest  indication  of  the  want  of  confi- 
dence manifested  by  the  public  at  large. 

MR.    KINSLEY, 

the  noted  restaurateur  and  caterer, 
responded  to  the  questions  propounded, 
which  are  herewith  jotted  down.  He 
remarked  that  he  noticed  a  perceptible 
difference  of  from  30  to  40  per  cent  in  favor 
of  the  new  light.  The  gas  was  beyond 
question  the  finest  and  best  ever  used  in  his 
restaurant  Mr.  Watkins,  the  President  of 
the  old  concern,  had  sent  for  him.  He  de- 
sired Mr.  Kinsley  to  continue  the  use 
of  the  old  gas,  and  was  willing  to 
make  a  contract  for  three  years  at 
$1.25  per  1,000,  although  they  i>rofess 
to  furnish  their  gas  to  consumers  at$l.,  Mr. 
Kinsley  desired  Mr  Watkins  to  make  a  con- 
tract for  three  years  at  their  present  price. 


118 


CHICAGO'S  FIEST  HALF  CENTtJRl. 


which  he  refused.  He  was  more  than  ever, 
since  that  interview,  impressed  with  the 
belief  that  the  old  monopoly  was  a  tricky 
concern  irresponsible  and  faithless.  They 
would  bear  close  watching.  They  had  en- 
deavored to  Dlay  the  freeze-out  game  but 
were  themselves  frozen.  The  citizens 
should  compare  their  bills  now  and  in  the 
future  and  they  would  find  a  large-sized  and 
ever-growing  Ethiopian  in  the  wood- pile. 

MAHLER    &     GALES 

on  South  Clark  street,  were  next  collared  by 
the  impetuous  reporter  and  were  asked  for 
their  opinion;  as  usual  they  confirmed  what 
had  been  sai  d  by  other  citizens.  The  new  ga« 
save  splendid  satisfaction,  and  was  a  wel- 
come relief.  Last  month's  bill  of  their  firm 
had  been  exactly  double  that  of  November  in 
1882  although  they  were  using  the  same 
quantity  of  gas.  The  old  company  were 
worse  than  highway  robbers,  because  the  one 
faced  their  victims  boldly  and  demanded 
their  purses,  w~ile  this  band  of  cormorants 
lifted  the  left  hand  to  heaven  in  a  prayerful 
and  sanctimonious  attitude  while  with  the 
right  hand  they  dove  down  deep  into  the 
pockets  of  their  customers  and  took  all  they 
could  legally  get.  Finishing  his  remarks 
Mr.  Mahler  said  that  rum-sellers  are  cur- 
rently said  to  have  no  hearts.  He  was  sure 
that  the  men  who  direct  the  affairs  of  the 
Shylock  concern  were  ushered  into  existence 
without  the  faintest  resemblance  to  that 
organ  in  their  bodies. 

w.  B.  KDEIT, 

the  gentlemanly  proprietor  of  the  Palmer 
House  and  Tremout  Hotel  tonsorial  and  bath- 
ing palaces,  accorded  a  prompt  reply  to  the 
interviewer's  inquisitiveness.  He  observed 
that  one  burner  in  the  Tremont  House  had 
given  as  much  light  as  three  burners  of  the 
old  company.  The  new  gold  ornamentations 
and  frescoing  of  his  parlors  in  the  Palmer 
House  h»d  been  discolored  by  the 
coal  gas  of  the  old  company  in  ninety 
days  and  it  would  prove  a  costly  expendi- 
ture if  he  were  obliged  to  use  the  yellow, 
nmoKy  light  that  has  disappeared  from  his 
establishment  forever,  thanks  to  the  new 
company. 

Mr.  Oilman,  of  the  Woodruff  House,  corner 
Twenty-first  street  and  Wabash  avenue,  ob- 
served that  the  new  gas  is  all  that  has  been 
promised  for  it  He  expressed  gratification 
with  the  light,  which  he  said  was  clear, 
steady,  white,  and  soft  to  the  eye.  He  used 
only  one  burner  in  the  house  where  he  had 
formerly  used  two,  a  saving  of  100  per  cent 


in  his  monthly  bills.  He  had  contemplated 
placing  electric  lights  in  his  dining-room  and 
other  parts  of  the  house  previous  to  obtain- 
ing the  new  gas,  but  that  was  not  necessary 
now,  as  the  new  light  was  a 
splendid  illuminant,  and  gave  him  and  his 
guests  unbounded  satisfaction. 

Many  more  prominent  citizens  were  inter- 
viewed, all  of  whom  said  in  substance  that 
the  old  monopoly  had  exhibited  a  grasping 
avariciousness  ana  an  utter  disregard  of 
public  rights,  which  would  put  to  blush 
Tweed's  outrageous  defiance  of  public 
opinion  in  his  palmiest  days. 

CAPTAIN    WILLIAM  HENBT    WHITE. 

In  according  a  proper  share  of  praise  for 
the  creditable  building  of  the  plant  and  the 
seventy-five  miles  of  main  pipes  THE  INTER 
OCEAN  omitted  in  the  prefatory  observations 
to  this  article  to  give  credit  to  Captain  Will- 
iam Henry  White,  engineer  of  the  construc- 
tion company,  who  was  ably  and  efficiently 
assisted  by  his  brother.  Colonel  C.  A.  White, 
present  assistant  engineer  of  the  company. 
These  gentlemen  were  indefatigable  in  their 
efforts,  and  may  be  said  without  doing  in- 
justice to  others  to  have  been  master  spirits 
in  bringing  the  works  to  a  successful  comple- 
tion. The  officers  of  the  company 
are  C.  E.  Judson,  President  and  Engineer; 
S.  A.  Stevens,  Secretary  and  Treasurer; 
Jesse  Hildrup,  Vice  President,  and  Colonel 
C.  A.  White,  Assistant  Engineer,  all  of  whom 
are  brilliant  executive  officers,  and  whose 
direction  of  the  affairs  of  the  company  is  a 
guarantee  that  private  and  public  confidence 
will  be  more  than  realized  during  their  ad- 
ministration of  the  Consumers'  Gas,  Fuel,  and 
Light  Company. 

THE  PBICE. 

In  bringing  this  article  to  a  close,  it  maybe 
of  sufficient  interest  to  the  public  to  state 
that  the  price  of  gas  of  the  new  company  is 
$1.25  per  1,000  feet,  regardless  of  con- 
tracts made  heretofore  at  an  advanced  figure. 

The  r>ublic  must  remember  while  noting 
the  acparent  difference  in  the  price  charged 
for  gas  by  the  two  companies  that  the  dif- 
ference is  fancied  rather  than  real  The  gas 
of  the  new  company  is  much  denser,  and  of 
much  greater  candle  power  than  that  of  the 
old  company.  It  is  commercially  much  the 
cheapest  gas. 

Service  pipes  with  meters  and  meter  con- 
nections will  be  introduced  free  of  expense. 

The  public  may  feel  assured  that  they  will 
be  treated  with  politeness  and  due  considera- 
tion in  all  cases  from  the  employes  of  the 
company. 


CHAPTER  XUL 


THE  PRODUCE  TRADE. 


THE  PRODUCE  TRADE. 

NEVEK  IN  THE  HISTOET 

of  the  produce  trade  of  the  city  of  Chicago  has 
the  volume  of  business  been  attained  as  reported 
during  the  year  1883.  The  efforts  made  by  our 
merchants  to  attract  trade  in  this  direction  has 
been  remarkably  successful,  and  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  one  object  of  their  lives  and  the  city's 
pride,  they  have  been  peculiarly  surrounded,  and 
in  a  great  measure  assisted,  by  very  fortunate 
circumstances.  The  large  emigration  to  the  West 
and  Northwest  during  the  past  five  years  has  not 
been  lost  sight  of,  and  as  the  great  majority  of 
the  newcomers  were  farmers,  a  special  effort  was 
made  to  draw  their  attention  to  Chicago  as  a  mar- 
ket for  the  products  of  their  new  farms.  The 
acreage  of  land  which  has  been  develoued  in  the 
country  tributary  to  our  market  within  the  time 
specified  has  been  unusually  heavy,  and  in  most 
instances  occupied  by  actual  settlers.  The  build- 
ing of  through  lines  and  branches  through  these 
fertile  avenues,  by  some  of  the  leading  railway 
corporations,  has  also  been  the  means  of  increas- 
ing and  enlarging  the  produce  trade  of  the  North- 
west, and  more  particularly  tnat  of  the  Garden 
City.  Another  very  fortunate  circumstance  was 
the  favorable  crop  returns,  especially  of  the 
smaller  grains,  which  were  secured  in  good  con- 
dition, and  in  such  quantities  that  producers 
were  compelled  to  seek  such  a  wholesale  market 
as  ours  to  dispose  of  their  property  promptly  at 
satisfactory  hgures,  or  should  the  markets  have 
been  suddenly  depressed,  place  them  in  our 
warehouses  until  a  more  favorable  opportunity 
should  be  presented  for  disposing  of  it.  No  other 
city  in  this  country  is  supplied  with  such 

MAGNIFICENT     AND     SUBSTANTIAL    WAREHOUSES 

for  the  storage  of  grain — the  capacity  of  which 
has  been  increased  1,000,01)0  bushels  "during  the 
past  year,  and  now  reaches  26,200,000  bushels — 
and  in  no  other  market  are  storage  rates  more 
reasonable,  and  contingent  expenses  for  hand- 
ling and  disposing  of  grain  less  burdensome.  It 
may  not  be  out  of  place  here  to  state  that  the  reli- 
ability and  financial  standing  of  the  members  of 
the  produce  trade  has  been  improved  in  this 
respect — that  more  legitimate  business  has  been 
transacted  than  ever  before,  and  the 
"bucket-shop  schemes"  and  "special  fund 
swindles"  are  being  gradually  weeded 
out  through  the  efforts  of  legitimate  merchants 
and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws  by  government 
officials.  Again,  the  membership  of  the  Chicago 
Board  of  Trade  is  virtually  limited,and  the  trans- 
fers of  membership  privileges  are  almost  *xci"- 
siveiy  from  small  unfortunate  operators  and  non- 


traders  to  parties  of  financial  standing  and  who 
have  some  influence  in  attracting  trade — either  in 
shipping  or  speculation — to  our  market.  The 
number  of  firms  engaged  in  all  branches  of  the 
produce  trade  has  been  somewhat  increased  dur- 
ing the  year,  which  was  partially  due  to  the  en- 
larged movement  of  property,  but  more  largely 
attributed  to  the  growing  mania  for  speculative 
investments.  The  recent  favorable  decisions  of 
the  courts— including  the  highest  authority  in  the 
land — has  had  much  to  do  with  encouraging  this 
mode  of  trading.  The  plan  adopted  by  the  Chi- 
cago Board  of  Trade,  wherein  it  is  declared  to  be 
the  intention  of  the  parties  when  the  contracts 
are  made  to  tender  or  receive  such  property,  has 
also  had  a  beneficial  in  checking  reckless  opera- 
tors or  small  margins.  The  repeal  of  the  "anx,i- 
cornerl"  rule  by  that  organization,  too,  has  not 
led  to  the  reckless  and  unscrupulous  trading 
anticipated,  and  but  one  during  the 
year  was  any  unusual  complaint  made 
regarding  extortionate  prices,  when  an  appeal  to 
the  courts  apparently  had  a  beneficial  effect, 
though  generally  regarded  as  of  doubtful  expedi- 
ency. It  should  be  understood  that  deliveries  on 
speculative  contracts  for  produce  are  as  freely 
made,  proportionately  as  those  calling  for  other 
property,  and  that  the  rules  of  all  legitimate 
commercial  organizations  and  the  decisions  of 
our  courts  sustain  such  contracts. 

THE  FACILITIES  FOE  FILLING 

speculative  orders  have  been  materially  enlarged. 
Several  of  the  leading  houses  have  special  private 
telegraph  connections  with  the  leading  Eastern 
and  Western  markets,  and  others  have  estab- 
lished branch  houses  in  the  larger  cities  for  the 
accommodation  of  their  constantly  glowing  trade. 
The  grain  markets  have  been  very  attractive  to 
the  speculative  element,  annd  other  branches 
of  speculative  tracie  have  felt  severe  losses  on 
this  account — especially  the  stock  market  of  Wall 
street.  Our  banking  facilities  are  unsurpassed 
anywhere,  and  merchants  in  good  standing  expe- 
renceno  difficulty  in  obtaining  financial  favors,  as 
their  class  of  collaterals  command  the  preference. 
The  export  trade  during  the  year  was  fairly  large, 
yet  exhibited  no  particular  increase.  The  orders 
from  the  foreign  markets  for  grain  have 
been  moderate,  while  the  inquiry  from  abroad 
for  beef  and  hog  products  was  somewhat  in- 
creased. Our  facilities  for  negotiating  foreign 
exchange  are  equal  to  those  of  Eastern  markets, 
and  merchants  meet  with  no  inconvenience  in 
disposing  of  their  bills.  The  fluctuation  in  prices 
during  the  year  partook  of  quite  wide  range,  and 
in  some  instances  resulted  in  temporary  financial 
disturbances  and  suspension  of  houses  engaged 
in  speculative  oDerations  rather  reckless  in  char- 
acter. The  early  part  of  the  year  was  apparently 
more  favorable  to  holders  of  produce,  and  satis- 
factory prices  were  realized,  but  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  year  prices  were  on  a  declining  scale. 
The  reports  of  damage  to  the  winter  wheat  crop 
early  in  the  season  led  producers  to  believe  that 
an  unusual  demand  would  prevail  for  that  cereal, 
but  while  the  final  returns  of  the  harvest  showed 
quite  a  serious  decrease,  in  the  returns,  yet  the 


120 


CHICAGO'S  FIKST  HALF  CENTURY. 


spring  \rheat  crop  was  an  unusually  good  one,  and 
this  had  the  effect  of  weakening  the  market  and 

ACCUMULATING  LARGE   QUANTITIES  OF  WHEAT 

in  the  principal  markets  of  this  country.  The  re- 
ports of  the  corn  crop  were  favorable  early, 
and  lower  prices  were  accepted,  but  the  back- 
wardness of  the  crop  and  the  appearance  of  frost 
in  the  early  autumn  seriously  affected  the  qual- 
ity of  the  grain.  The  smaller  (Trains  were  re- 
ceived in  liberal  quantities  and  in  excellent  con- 
dition. The  supplies  of  live  stock  have  been 
abundant  and  liberal  numbers  forwarded  to  our 
market.  The  production  of  other  farm  articles 
has  been  liberal. 

An  unfortunate  misunderstanding  between  the 
representatives  of  the  Eastern  railroads  and  the 
officials  of  the  Board  of  Trade  caused  the 
statistical  movement  of  produce  to  be  withheld 
from  the  public  for  about  four  months.  This  in- 
terfered greatly  with  compiling  the  returns  for 
the  year.  These  deficiencies  have  not  been  re- 
ported, yet  sufficient  data  has  been  obtained  by 
which  an  approximate  idea  of  the  movement  of 
some  of  the  leading  articles  can  be  had.  It  is 
sufficient,  however,  to  say  that  the  aggregate 
receipts  of  flour  and  grain— 168.595,413  bushels 
—are 

THE  LARGEST  ON  BECOED, 

while  the  shipments  of  the  same  articles — 145,- 
673,569  bushels — have  been  exceeded  but  once. 
There  is  little  doubt,  when  the  final  returns  are 
made,  that  the  movement  of  all  kinds  of  produce- 
both  to  and  from  the  city,  will  exhibit  an  unusn, 
ally  large  volume. 

PRODUCE    STATISTICS. 

AGGREGATE  GRAIN  MOVEMENT. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  aggregate 
receipts  and  shipments  of  flour  (reduced  to 
bushels)  and  all  kinds  of  grain  at  Chicago 
during  the  past  ten  years: 


Year. 


Received, 
bushels. 


1874. 95,611,713 

1875 81,087,302 


1876. . 


97,735,482 


1877. 94,416,399 

1878 134.086,595 

1879 138,154,571 

1880 165,855,370 

1881 145,020,829 

1882 126,146,483 

1883 168,595,413 


Year. 


Shipped, 
bushels. 


1874. 84,020,691 

1875 72,369,194 

1876 87,241,306 

1877. 90,706,076 

1878 118,675,269 

1879 125,528,379 

1880 154,377,115 

1881 140,307,597 

1882 114,864,933 

1883 145,673,569 


GRAIN   CEOPS. 

The  following  are  the  final  returns  and 
estimates  of  the  grain  crops  of  the  United 
States,  with  comparisons  of  former  years,  as 
given  Dy  the  Department  of  Agriculture: 


ABTICLE 

1883. 

1882. 

1881. 

1880. 

Wheat..  . 
Corn  
Oats  
Barley... 
Bye  
B'kwh't. 

420,100.000 
•1,551,066,0110 

&00.600.0M 

44,010,000 
19,000,(.00 
8,000,000 

502,789,600     3*0,280.090 
1,624,91  7,8(0  1,H)4,91H,COO 
4)5,655,7001    416,481,1:00 
45,000,000       41,161,330 
20,000,000      20,;u4,9:>0 
12.(00,000|       9,486,200 

498,549,868 
1,717,434,5)3 
417.885.3SO 
45,165,316 
24.540,829 
14,617,535 

"This  includes  all    qualities— sound  and  unsound 
corn. 
MOVEMENT  OF  GHATN,    PROVISIONS,   LIVE   STOCK. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  receipts 
and  shipments  of  flour,  grain,  and  live  stock 
for  two  years: 


THE   VTRILBE   SUPPLY   OF   GRAIN. 

The  following  table  shows  the  visible  sup- 
ply of  grain,  comprising  the  stock  sin  granary 
at' the  principal  points  of  accumulation  at 
lake  and  seaboard  ports,  and  in  transit  by 
rail  and  water  (monthly)  for  the  year  1883: 


MONTHS. 

Wheat. 

Corn. 

Oats. 

Rye. 

Barley. 

January  6.  . 
Februarys  . 
March  3...  . 
April?  
May  5  
June  2  
Julv7  .  . 

21,315,550 
22.289.  1  36 
2:5,3  2.271 
22,3411.95 
2'  >,707,249 
••>0.-.'-4,S15 
1S..W.49". 
18,750,986 
21J04.7H!- 
28.523,4-8 
SI,  129.673 
33.281,94: 
85,531,259 

9.229,144 
10,700,05! 
13,545,6  '  ' 
18,223,008 
lli,16S.->!'8 
13,  9:!,546 
l',836,f'29 
10,917,788 

ii,;;:;7,-u 

13.414,957 
10,335,7*3 
8,62l,99E 
9,lftl.25i' 

4.425,  588 
43~>2,164 
4,062,111 
4,057,6:18 
4.667,1  8 
:v.>ss.57r 
3.70i,l:;7 
3,  04,671 
1,199.  07 
5.SK01S 
5,510.990 
5,912,447 
6,197,271 

1.514,973 

1,646,081 
1,832,070 
1,8  7,8'.8 
1.7^1,0!  7 
1,  741,274 
1,712.609 
1,593,^94 
1,  ^7,851 
i.2  4.146 
2.  58.S84 
2,569.803 
2,712,  1S8 

3.004.f)fO 
2.<  57,769 
1,916,472 
1,'98,'30 
1.C20.9TO 
:2',347 
398.299 
3:ll,9;9 
271,  H2 
873,52; 
2,366,SS4 
3,50:1,486 
3,469,856 

August  4  
September  1  . 
October  6  
Novembers. 
December  1. 
December  2-! 

CASH    PRICES. 

THE  RANGE. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  opening, 
highest,  lowest,  and  closing  prices  for  the 
articles  named  (monthly)  for  the  year  1883. 
compared  with  the  highest  and  lowest  in 
1883: 

NO.  2  SPRING  WHEAT. 


1883. 

1882. 

to 

. 

« 

MONTHS. 

a 

<n 

GO 

e? 

m 

•g 

1 

o 

I 

0 

00 

1 

% 

§ 

a 

1 

1 

1 

3 

January 
Feb'ary. 

$  .93=8 
1.0413 

$1.0334 

$  .9358 
1.04 

$1.0334 
1.08 

$1.36 

$1.25»4 
1.2014 

March  .  . 

1.0834 

1.09^2 

1.05 

1.07*9 

l'.32i4 

1.20 

April  — 

1.0734 

T  li^R 

1.02 

1  1  IV? 

1.40 

1.33 

May  

1.1113 

lilSSg 

1.08 

l!l3 

1.40 

1.23 

June  

1  IS^ 

1.1313 

.9834 

1.0114 

1.35 

1.25 

July  

1.00  is 

1.0234 

9813 

1.00-8 

1.36 

1.25 

August,. 

1.01 

1.033s 

'.9934 

.99^4 

1.34 

.99 

Sept'ber 

.99J4 

.9914 

.93 

.953s 

1.08 

.97 

October. 

.9514 

.90 

92^ 

.9634 

.92k 

Nov'ber. 

93*8 

.9834 

.93  1« 

.97  SB 

.9413 

.91i4 

Dec'ber.. 

.9634 

.99*4 

.94«8 

.9434 

.9434 

.911, 

NO.  2  CORN. 


January 

.4934 

.70 

.4914 

.P6 

.63  IK 

.eovt 

Feb'ary. 

.55 

.59 

.5413 

.5634 

GO***. 

5(514 

March  .  . 

.58 

.5914 

.52»a      .54i3 

!esi3 

JM** 

April  — 

.5414 

.dS1^ 

.50^4 

.5513 

.7734 

.69  "3 

May  

.5538 

.5634 

.5314 

.56 

76^8 

.69 

June  .... 

.567 

.57% 

,50^0 

.507s 

.75 

.68*3 

July  

.53 

.47  5s 

.5038 

^ili-> 

.7478 

August.. 

IsQiJ 

.SB's 

.4913 

.50*4 

.7914 

•7*? 

Sept'der 

.49 

.523s 

.4734 

.493g 

.75 

October. 

.4914 

.4913 

.46 

.46Gs 

.71>3, 

1598 

Nov'ber. 

4713 

.57 

.47  ^ 

.5534|     .72>a 

.64 

JJec'ber.. 

.55 

.5414 

.5534II     .61 

.49^4 

NO.  2  OATS. 


January 

.3514 

.38-8 

.35 

•3678 

.451s 

.4219 

Feb'ary. 

.37*4 

.413s 

.37 

.41 

.43^ 

.4014 

March  .  . 

.42 

.4313 

.393s 

.40 

.45*3 

.42 

April.... 

.42 

.43 

.3913 

.40 

.521, 

.45 

May  

.41 

.4234 

.3834 

.3914 

.563s 

.48 

June  

.3912 

.407s 

.32 

.3234 

.56 

.48 

July  

.3314 

.8614 

.2714 

.271* 

.62 

.5213 

August.  . 

.277s 

.29 

.2534 

.27 

.59 

.37 

Sept'ber 

.26 

.28 

.25 

.2734 

-36i3 

.3013 

October. 

.2734 

.2838 

.2634 

.277s 

.3534 

.3158 

Nov'ber. 

.2734 

.313g 

.273a 

.31 

.39 

.33=8 

Dec'ber.. 

.30<k 

.36  1« 

.30i4 

.327e 

.4113 

.343i 

ARTICLES. 

RECEIPTS. 

SHIPMENTS.           Dec'ber.. 

^30^ 

iseif* 

'.30i4 

'.327e 

.4113 

.34^4 

1888. 

1882. 

1883. 

1-82.                                                     NO.  2  RYE. 

Flour,  brls  
Wheat,  bu  
Corn,  bu  
Oats,  bu  

4.403,982 
20,Si:',,665 
74,459,948 
87,750,442 
5,662,420 
10,591,619 
189,858,5f:8 
53.G9M 
70,924,7:2 
5,646,8a5 
1,877,240 
750.087 

4,179,912 
23,0(18,599 
49,061,7^5 

1,'9»4,51G 
6,488,140 
106,165,0:« 
78.895 
49,696,384 
5,817,504 
1,582.530 
£28.887 

4,019,234 
11,708,:  85 
71,098,399 
3  ,117,716 
3,944,023 
7,718,503 
674,419,355 
400.552 
246,720,866 
1,8  9,965 
966,362 
K2.761 

8,843,067     January 
19,767,884      Feb'ary 
49,07:;,&J9      March  .  . 
23,658,239      April.... 
1,773,14s      Mav  
8,298,252      June... 
615.923,951     Julv  
435,625      August.. 
235,473,520      Sept'ber 
1,747,722      October. 
921,609     Nov'ber. 
314,200     Dec'ber.j 

.57 
.63 
.6513 
.6813 
.61 
.64 
.55 
.56  13 
.5513 
.56 
.55 
.68 

.68 
.66 
.6634 
.6113 
.67 
.64 
.5713 
.62 
.58 
.56 
.6813 
.60 

.57 
.63 
.5712 
.56 
.61 
.55 
.53 
.56 
.54 
.5313 
.55 

.62 
.65 

.58 

'.6413 
.55 

156 
.56 
.55 
.58  13 

.59 

.96 
.95 
£7 
.8813 
.83 
.76 
.75 
.6813 
.6613 
.60 
.5813 

^5 

.81 
^!3 

.77 

.'57 
.57 

£5*9 

.67 

Rye,  bu  
Barley,  bu  
Pork,  brls  
Cut  meats,  tbs. 
Lard,  IDs  
HOKS,  No  
C»U1«,  No  
gk«fir  No  

CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTtJRY. 


121 


NO.  2  BARLEY. 


MONTHS. 

1883. 

1882. 

Open'g  High't.  Lowest 

Clos'g. 

High';.  Lowest 

January 
Feb'ary. 
March  .  . 
April  
May  

.80 
.82 
.81 
.76 

.81 

.85 
.85 
.81 
.85 
.82 

.80 
.80 
.74 
.75 

.78 

.82 
.81 
.76 
.81 
.80 

1.08 
1.05 
1.05 
1.10 
1.10 
1.00 

].03ia 
1.00 
1.00 
1.04 
1.00 
.98 

June  .  .  . 

July  

August.. 
Sept'ber 
October. 
Nov'ber. 
Dec'ber.. 

.70 
.57 
.60 
.60 
.67 

.70 
.65 
.62 
.66 
.67 

.64^ 
.57 
.59^ 
.60 
.63  b 

.64i2 
.62 
.60i2 
.66 
.65 

.86 
.90 
.87  'tz 
.83*2 
82 

'".79" 
.81 
.80 

.78 

MESS  POEK. 


January 

16.85 

17.75 

16.75 

17.70 

18.40 

16.60 

Feb'ary. 

17.77i2 

18.30 

17.75 

18.2212 

18.6212 

16.75 

March  .  . 

18.22  "2 

18.35 

17.90 

18.30 

17.3713 

1(1.00 

April  — 

18.2712 

19.50 

17.90 

19.50 

18.40 

17.25 

May  

19.4712 

20.15 

19.00 

19.2712 

19.75 

18.20 

June  

19.25     19.25 

15.8712 

16.2712 

21.75 

19.45 

July  

15.87  i2lo.95 

13.25 

13.55 

22.30 

20.15 

August.  . 

l.V-'5    i!3.:J.7i2 

11.85 

12.05 

22.00 

20.50 

Sept'ber 

12.05 

12.10 

10.20 

10.50 

22.35 

19.1212 

Octooer. 

10.62  iall.37i2 

10.20 

10.271-j 

24.75 

21.00 

Nov'ber. 

10.a7i3  13.10 

10.25 

13.10 

21.50 

16.75 

Dec'ber. 

12.75    114.87  'a 

12.50 

14.10 

17.6212 

17.00 

January 

10.30    [10.95 

10.12i2 

10.92^ 

11.30 

10.90 

Feb'ary. 

11.0712 

11.50 

11.05 

11.45 

11.35 

10.35 

March  .  . 

11.45 

11.45 

11.00 

11.4213 

11.00 

10.05 

April  

11.40 

11.72^ 

11.10 

11.65 

11.40 

11.00 

May  

11.65 

12.10 

11.50 

11.67i3 

11.45 

11.1713 

June  

11.67i2 

11.70 

9.05 

9.30 

12.30 

11.20 

July  

9.32i2 

8.32i2 

8.20 

8.624 

12,95 

12.00 

August.. 

8.50 

8.75 

8.05 

8,3713 

12.45 

12.12ia 

Sept'ber 

8.32i2 

8.35 

7.75 

7.85 

12.7712 

11.15 

October. 

7.85 

8.25 

7.15 

7.17i3 

13.10 

11.30 

Nov'ber. 

7.22i2 

8.4713 

7.2213 

8.45 

12.00 

10.62ia 

Dec'ber.. 

8.22i2 

9.00 

8.10 

8.70 

10.75 

10.22  <a 

SHOKT  BIB  SIDES. 


January 
Feb'ary. 
March  .  . 

8.60 
8.95 
9.85 

8.90 
9.75 
9.90 

8.5213 

8.95 

8."7l3 

9.75 

9.20       8-45 
9.40       8.90 
9.55       8.70 

April  
May  

9.87  h 
10.40 

,10.50 
10.75 

9.75 

10.471-2 

10.25       9.55 
11.20     10.15 

June  
July.  ... 

9.87^ 
8.20 

9.90 
8.20 

7.95 
6.75 

8.15 
7.20 

12.60     10.90 
12.95     12.20 

August.. 
Sept'ber 
October. 
Nov'ber. 
Dec'ber. 

6.97^ 
6.371-. 
5.871; 
6.10 
6.50 

!     7.1213 

6.50 
7.12i2 
7.00 
7.40 

6.3213 
5.60 
5.85 
5.80 
6.50 

6.35 
5.75 
6.25 

7ilO 

13.60     13.35 
14.25     13.25 
15.25     11.76 
11.75       8.75 
9.15       8.60 

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ELEVATOR    CAPACITY. 

THE   VABIOUS   ELEVATOBS   IN   CHICAGO. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  grain  ele- 
vator capacity  of  the  city  of  Chicago  at  the 
present  time: 

Name  of  elevator.  Capacity,  bu. 

Central  elevator  A 1,000,000 

Central  elevator  B 1,500,000 

C.,  B.  a>id  Q.  elevator  A.  1,250.000 

C.,  B.  and  Q.  elevator  B 850,000 

C.,  B.  and  Q.  elevator  C 1,750,000 

C.,  B.  and  Q.  elevator  D 2,000,000 

C.,  B.  and  Q.  elevator  E 1,000,000 

Kock  Island  elevator  A l,5()o.ooo 

Rock  Island  elevator  B 1,250,000 

Galena  elevator 750<OOO 

Air  Line  elevator 750,000 

Northwestern  elevator 600,000 

Fulton  elevator 300,000 

City  elevator 1,000,000 

Union  elevator 700,000 

Iowa  elevator 1,500,000 

St.  Paul  elevator 1,000,000 

Illinois  Kiver  elevator 200,000 

National  elevator  1,000,000 

Chicago  and  St.  Louis  elevator 1,000,000 

Neely's  elevator 600,000 

Chicago  and  Danville  elevator 350,000 

Chicago  and  Pacific  elevator 1,000,000 

Wabash  elevator 1,750,000 

Western  Indiana  elevator 1,500.000 


Total  capacity 26,200,000 

TRADE  RULES. 

GBAIN  INSPECTION  BULES. 

The  following  arc  the  rules  adopted  by  the 
Board  of  Railroad  and  Warenouse  Commis- 
sioners establishing  a  proper  number  and 
standard  of  grades  for  the  inspection  of 
grain,  as  revised  by  them,  the  same  in  force 
on  and  after  the  1st  day  of  September, 
1883.  in  lieu  of  all  rules  on  the  same  subject 
heretofore  existing: 

WINTEB    WHEAT. 

No.  1  white  winter  wheat  shall  be  pure 
white  winter  wheat,  or  red  and  white  mixed, 
sound,  plump,  and  well  cleaned. 

No.  2  white  winter  wheat  shall  be  white 
winter  wheat,  or  red  and  white  mixed,  sound, 
and  reasonably  clean. 

No.  3  white  winter  wheat  shall  include 
white  winter  wheat,  or  red  and  white  mixed, 
not  clean  and  plump  enough  for  No.  2,  but 
weighing  not  less  than  fifty-four  pounds  to 
the  measured  bushel. 

Rejected  white  winter  wheat  shall  include 
white  winter  wheat,  damp,  musty,  or  from 
any  cause  so  badly  damaged  as  to  render  it 
unfit  for  No.  3. 

No.  1  long  red  winter  wheat  shall  be  pure 
red  winter  wheat  of  the  long-berried"  va- 
rieties ;  sound,  plump,  and  well  cleaned. 

No.  2  long  red  winter  wheat  shall  be  of  the 
same  varieties  as  No.  1,  sound  and  reason- 
ably cleaned. 

Turkish  Red  Winter  Wheat— The  grades  of 
Nos.  1  and  2  Turkish  red  winter  wheat  shall 
correspond  with  the  grades  of  Nos.  1  and  2 
red  winter  wheat,  except  that  they  shall  be 
of  the  Turkish  variety. 

No.  1  red  winter  wheat  shall  be  pure  red 
winter  wheat  of  both  light  and  dark  colors 
of  the  shorter-berried  varieties;  sound, 
plump,  and  well  cleaned. 

No.  2  red  winter  wheat  shall  be  red  winter 


122 


CHICAGO'S  FIEST  HALF  CENTURY. 


wheat  of  both  light  and  dark  colors,  sound, 
and  reasonably  clean. 

No.  3  red  winter  wheat  shall  include  red 
winter  wheat  not  cleaned  and  plump  enough 
for  No.  2,  but  weighing  not  less  than  fifty- 
four  pounds  to  the  measured  bushel. 

Rejected  red  winter  wheat  shall  include 
red  winter  wheat,  damp,  musty,  or  from  any 
cause  so  badly  damaged  as  to  render  it  unfit 
for  No.  3. 

In  case  of  the  mixture  of  red  and  white 
winter  wheat,  it  shall  be  graded  according  to 
the  quality  thereof  and  classed  at  white 
winter  wheat 

SPBINO  WHEAT. 

No.  1  hard  spring  wheat  shall  be  sound, 
plump,  and  well  cleaned. 

No.  2  hard  spring  wheat  shall  be  sound, 
reasonably  clean,  and  of  good  milling 
quality. 

No.  1  spring  wheat  shall  be  sound,  plump, 
and  well  cleaned. 

No.  2  spring  wheat  shall  be  sound,  reason- 
ably clean,  and  of  good  milling  quality. 

No.  3  spring  wheat  shall  include  all  in- 
ferior, shrunken,  or  dirty  spring  wheat, 
weighing  not  less  than  fifty- three  pounds  to 
the  measured  bushel. 

Kejected  spring  wheat  shall  include  spring 
wheat  damp,  musty,  grown,  badly  bleached, 
or  for  any  other  cause  which  renders  it  unfit 
for  No.  3. 

In  case  of  the  mixture  of  spring  wheat  and 
winter  wheat,  if  equal  or  superior  to  No.  2, 
it  shall  be  graded  as  mixed  wheat,  according 
to  the  quality  thereof,  and  if  inferior  to  No. 
2  it  shall  be  graded  as  spring  wheat,  accord- 
ing to  the  quality  thereof. 

Black  sea  and  flinty  Pfife  wheat  shall  in  no 
case  be  inspected  higher  than  No.  2.  and  rice 
wheat  no  higher  than  rejected. 

COEN. 

No.  1  yellow  corn  shall  be  yellow,  sound, 
dry,  plump,  and  well  cleaned. 

No.  1  white  corn  shall  be  white,  sound,  dry, 
pmmp,  and  well  cleaned. 

No.  1  corn  shall  be  sound,  dry,  plump,  and 
well  cleaned,  white  and  yellow,  unmixed 
Arith  red. 

High  mixed  corn  shall  be  three-quarters 
yellow,  and  equal  to  No.  2  in  condition  and 
quality. 

No.  2  corn  shall  be  dry,  reasonably  clean, 
but  not  plump  enough  for  No.  1. 

No.  2  kiln-dried  corn  shall  be  sound.plump, 
and  well  cleaned,  white  or  yellow.  All  kiln- 
dried  corn  not  good  enough  for  No.  2  kiln- 
dried  shall  be  graded  as  rejected  kiln-dried 
corn. 

New  high  mixed  corn  shall  be  three-fourths 
yellow,  of  any  age,  reasonably  dry  and  rea- 
sonably clean,  but  not  sufficiently  dry  for 
high  mixed  or  No.  2. 

New  mixed  corn  may  be  less  than  three- 
fourths  yellow,  of  any  age.  and  shall  be  rea- 
sonably dry  and  reasonably  clean,  but  not 
sufficiently  dry  for  No.  2. 

Rejected — All  damp,  dirty,  or  otherwise 
badly  damaged  corn  shall  be  graded  as  re- 
jected. 

OATS. 

No.  1  oats  shall  be  white,  sound,  clean,  and 
reasonably  free  from  other  grain. 

No.  2  white  oats  shall  be  seven-eighths 
white  and  equal  to  No.  2  in  all  other  re- 
spects. 

No.  2  oats  shall  be  sweet,  reasonably  clean, 
and  reasonably  free  from  other  grain. 

Rejected — All  oats  damp,  unsound,  dirty, 
or  from  any  other  cause  unfit  for  No.  2  shall 
be  graded  as  rejected. 


This  rule  shall  be  in  force  on  and  after 
Sept.  1.  1883,  but  it  is  provided  that  all  oats 
in  store  on  said  date,  inspected  in  under  the 
rule  hereby  amended,  shall  be  inspected  out 
in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  said  rule 
in  force  when  inspected  in. 

EYE. 

No.  1  rye  shall  be  sound,  plump,  and  well 
cleaned. 

No.  2  rye  shall  be  sound,  reasonably  clean, 
and  reasonably  free  from  other  grain. 

Rejected — All  rye  damp,  musty,  dirty,  or 
from  any  cause  unfit  for  No.  2,  shall  be 
graded  as  rejected. 

BABLET. 

No.  1  barley  shall  be  plump,  bright,  clean, 
and  free  from  other  grain. 

No.  2  barley  shall  be  sound,  of  healthy 
color,  not  plump  enough  for  No.  1,  reason- 
ably clean,  and  reasonably  free  from  other 
grain. 

No.  3  barley  shall  include  slightly  shrunken 
and  otherwise  slightlv  damaged  barley,  not 
good  enough  for  No.  2. 

No.  4  barley  shall  include  all  barley  fit  for 
malting  purposes,  not  good  enough  for  No.  3. 

No.  5  barley  shall  include  all  barley  which 
is  badly  damaged,  or  from  any  cause  unfit 
for  malting  purposes,  excopt "  that  barley 
which  lias  been  chemically  treated  shall  not 
be  graded  at  alL 

Scotch  Barley— The  grades  of  Nos.  1,  2,  and 
3  Scotch  barley  shall  correspond  in  all  re- 
spects with  the  grades  of  NOB.  1,  2,  and  3 
barley,  except  that  they  shall  be  of  the  Scotch 
variety. 

This  rule  shall  be  in  force  on  and  after 
Sept.  1.1883, but  it  is  provided  that  all  barley 
in  score  on  said  date,  inspected  in  under  the 
rule  hereby  amended,  shall  be  inspected  out 
in  accordance  with  the  provisions  of  said 
rule. 

BULE  vn. 

The  word  "new"  shall  be  inserted  in  each 
certificate  of  inspection  of  a  newly  harvested 
crop  of  oats  until  tne  loth  of  August,  of  rye 
until  the  1st  day  of  September,  of  wheat 
until  the  1st  day*  of  November,  and  of  bar- 
ley until  the  1st  day  of  May,  of  each  year. 
This  change  shall  be  construed  as  establish- 
ing a  new  grade  for  the  time  specified,  to 
conform  in  every  particular  to  the  existing 
grades  of  grain,  excepting-  the  distinctions  of 
new  "  and  '•  old." 

BULB  vm. 

All  grain  that  is  warm,  or  that  is  in  a  heat- 
ing condition,  or  is  otherwise  unfit  for  ware- 
housing, shall  not  be  graded. 
BULK  rx. 

All  inspectors  shall  make  their  reasons  for 
grading-  grain  when  necessary,  fully  known 
by  notations  on  their  books.      The  weight 
aione  shall  not  determine  the  grade. 
BULE  x. 

Each  inspector  is  required  to  ascertain  the 
weight  per  measured  bushel  of  each  lot  of 
wheat  inspected  by  him,  and  note  the  same 
on  his  book. 

CHABGES  FOE  INSPECTION. 

The  said  Chief  Inspector  is  hereby  author- 
ized to  collect,  on  and  after  July  1,  1883,  on 
all  grain  inspected  under  his  directions,  as 
follows: 

For  In-inspection — 35c  per  car-load,  lOc 
per  wagon  or  cart-load,  50c  per  1,000  bushels 
from  canalboats,  ^40  per  bush«l  from  bags. 

For  Out  inspection — 50c  per  1,000  bushels 
to  vessels,  35  cents  per  car-load  to  cars,  35c 
per  car-load  to  teams,  or  lOc  per  wagon  load 
to  teams. 


CHICAGO'S  MUST  HALF  CENTURY. 


129 


GRAIN    INSPECTION. 

RECEIVED   BY  KAIL. 


The  following-  table  exhibits  the  inspection  of  the  gram  received  by  rail  during  the  year 
1883,  compiled  from  the  records  of  the  Chief  Inspector: 


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124 


The  inspection  of  grain  received  by  the  Illi- 
nois and  Slichigan  Canal  ancl  by  lake  during 
the  year  1883  was  as  follows:  Wheat — 5,430 
bu  No.  3  spring-.  Corn— 110,100  bu  high 
mixed,  375,500  bu  No.  2,  3,800  bu  new  high 
mixed,  1,351, 000  bu  rejected,  49,600  bu  no 
grade.  Oats— 131,600  bu  No.  2  white,  302,- 
600b(iNo.  2,  78,500  bu  rejected,  9,000  bu 
no  grade.  Bye— 68,200  bu  No.  2,  34,000  bu 
rejected.  6,00~0  bu  no  grade.  Barley— 20,463 
bu  No.  2. 

KATES  OF  COMMISSIONS. 

FOB  KECEIVTNG  AND  SELLING. 

The  following  are  the  rates  of  commissions 
adopted  by  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade  for 
receiving  and  selling  and  accounting  for 
consignments  of  the  property  named: 

CASH  PKOPEBTT. 

For  selling  car-load  lots  of  wheat  and  rye 
in  store,  free  on  board  cars  or  vessels,  <;n 
track,  delivered,  or  to  be  shipped  frc*n  any 
otner  point,  Ic  per  bushel. 

For  selling  car-load  lots  of  con*  and  oats  in 
store,  i£C  Per  bushel. 

For  selling  corn  by  sample,  OD  track,  Ic 
per  bushel. 

For  selling  car-load  lots  of  oats,  free  on 
cars  or  vessels,  on  track,  delivered,  or  to  be 
shipped  from  any  other  point,  Ic  per  bushel 

For  selling  car-load  lots  of  barley  in  store, 
Ic  per  bushel. 

For  selling  car-load  lots  of  barley,  free  on 
board  cars  or  vessels,  on  track,  delivered,  or 
to  be  shipped  from  any  other  point,  l^c  per 
bushel. 

;£For  selling  canalboat  loads  of  grain  in 
store  or  afloat  or  free  on  board  vessels,  ^c 
per  bushel. 

For  selling  flaxseed  in  bulk,  Ic  per  bushel. 

For  sel  ling  flaxseed  in  bags,  ligc  per  bushel. 

For  selling  clover  seed  in  car-load  lots,  1 
per  cent 

For  selling  clover  seed  in  less  than  car-load 
lots,  11*2  per  cent 

For  selling  timothy  seed,  1  ^  per  cent 

For  selling  other  seeds,  2  per  cent 

For  selling  dressed  hogs  in  car-load  lots, 
1  *2  per  cent. 

For  selling  dressed  hogs  in  less  than  car- 
load lots,  not  less  than  lig  per  cent  nor  to 
exceed  2^  per  cent 

For  selling,  bran,  shorts,  and  millstuffs, 
$3. 50  per  car. 

For  selling  corn  meal  and  mixed  feed,  $5 
per  car. 

For  selling  broom  corn,  irjc  per  B>. 

For  the  purchase  and  shipment  of  lard, 
pork  and  other  meats,  1%  of  1  per  cent 

SPECULATIVE  TRANSACTIONS. 

In  cases  where  the  transaction  is  made  by 
order  or  for  account  of  parties  who  are  not 
members  of  the  association : 

For  tne  purchase  and  sale  of  property  in 
the  Chicago  market: 

On  all  kinds  of  grain  in  lots  of  5,000  bush- 
els or  more,  ^4  of  1  c  per  bushel. 

On  lard  in  lots  of  250  tierces  or  more,  lOc 
per  tierce. 

On  mess  pork  in  lots  of  250  barrels  or 
more,  5c  per  barrel. 

On  other  meats  in  lots  of  50,000  pounds  or 
more.  ^  of  1  per  cent. 

In  cases  where  the  transaction  is  made  by 
order  or  for  account  of  parties  who  are 
members  of  the  association,  the  minimum 
narge  shall  be  one-half  the  above  rates,  to 
wit: 


For  the  purchase  and  sale  of  property  in 
the  Chicago  market: 

On  all  kinds  of  grain  in  lots  of  5,000  bush- 
els or  more,  ig  of  Ic  per  bushel 

On  lard  in  lots  of  250  tierces  or  more,  5c 
per  tierce. 

On  mess  pork  in  lots  of  250  barrels  or 
more,  2^0  per  barrel. 

On  other  meats,  in  lots  of  50.000  fi>s  or 
more,  ^4  of  1  per  cent. 

For  the  purchase  and  shipment  by  vessel 
cargo: 

On  wheat,  rye,  and  barley.  ^  of  Ic  per 
bushel. 

On  other  grain,  ^4  of  Ic  per  bushel. 

For  the  purchase  and  shipment  by  rail: 

On  grain  of  all  kinds,  i^of  Ic  per  bushel. 

For  the  purchase  and  shipment  of  lard, 
mess  pork,  and  all  other  meats,  1^  of  I  per 
cent. 

For  brokerage  where  the  name  of  the  prin- 
cipal is  given  the  day  on  which  the  transac- 
tion is  made,  and  the  broker  therefore  ceases 
to  be  considered  as  the  principal : 

On  all  kinds  of  grain,  25c  per  1,000  bush- 
els. 

On  lard,  Ic  per  tierce. 

On  mess  pork,  ^of  Ic  per  barrel 

On  other  meats,  3c  per  1,000  fta 


FLOUR  AND  GRAIN. 

FLOUR. 

The  flour  trade  in  this  city  has  not  been   as 

satisfactory  in  point  of  volume  as  last  year, 
still  a  very  fair  aggregate  trade  has  been 
,  transacted,  and  dealers  generally  feel  satis- 
fied with  the  year's  business.  Had  the  export 
demand  been  as  general  as  during  the  year 
1882,  trade  would  have  been  highly  satis- 
factory, but  this  has  been  lacking  more  or 
less  throughout  the  entire  year,  and  mer- 
chants have  been  compelled  to  rely  upon  the 
home  trade  to  a  considerable  extent,  which 
has  been  good.  The  Canadian  trade  relieved 
the  dullness  to  some  extent,  still  the  market 
on  the  whole  has  lacked  life  and  activity.  Of 
course  there  were  spasmodic  spurts  of  activ- 
ity when  indications  seemed  favorable  for 
continued  good  trade,  but  for  some  reason 
the  market  would  relapse  into  dullness  with- 
out developing  any  life,  and  while  there  has 
been  more  or  less  demand  ail  the  while,  trade 
has  been  mostly  of  a  slow  and  dragging 
nature.  The  reason  for  this  has  been 
that  European  markets  have  been  well 
stocked  with  flour  throughout  the  year. 
At  the  close  of  the  year  1882,  the  for- 
eign markets  ail  carried  pretty  liberal  stocks, 
and  these  instead  of  decreasing  have  in- 
creased, so  that  the  European  Continental 
trade  has  been  drawing  on  its  own  supplies 
more  than  in  former  years,  The  export 
orders  received  have  been  mainly  for  special 
grades  and  brands  well  known  to  the  trade 
in  foreign  markets.  For  instance,  merchants 
abroad  having  an  established  trade  for  a  cer- 
tain class  of  choice  flour  possessing  strength 
and  good  color,  would  send  special  orders 
•ailing  for  tni«  or  that  grada  or  brand  direct 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


123 


and  such  orders  would  occasionally  comprise 
large  lots.  Eussian,  Mediterranean,  and 
India  wheat  have  been  so  much  cheaper  than 
formerly,  owing  to  abundant  supplies,  that 
European  millers  have  been  able  to  supply 
the  English  and  Continental  trade  during:  a 
large  portion  of  the  year  with  flour  at  lower 
prices  than  American' flour  could  be  sold  at 
without  loss  to  millers,  thus  precluding 
American  competition  for  the  time  being-. 
But  the  improved  machinery  for  milling-,  and 
fine  wheat  to  be  had,  enables  American  mill- 
ers to  produce  a  quality  of  flour  which  can- 
not be  surpassed,  "and  which  commends  itself 
to  the  world,  even  though  the  price  may  be, 
figuratively  speaking,  higher  than  European 
makes,  and  a  certain  amount  always  finds 
sale  in  all  foreign  marts.  American  millers 
have  consigned  a  good  deal  of  flour  to 
European  markets;  in  fact  some  of  the  mills 
have  built  up  a  regular  trade  by  educating 
themselves  to  the  wants  of  the  Europeans, 
and  are  making  flours  especially  adapted  to 
their  particular  wants.  As  a  rule,  however, 
there  has  been  less  encouragement  the  past 
year  to  ship  abroad,  and  yet  the  amount  of 
consigned  flour  has  been  large.  This  mode  of 

SHIPPING  PROMISCUOUSLY  TO  FOREIGN  MARKETS 

has  in  some  instances  proved  rather  unsatis- 
factory. One  reason  for  this  is  that  wheat  in 
the  Chicago  market  is  kept  above  a  shipping 
margin  by  excessive  speculation,  and  when 
above  its  legitimate  value  for  shipment  to 
other  points  it  naturally  is  too  high  for  the 
milling  interest.  When  wheat  is  held  high 
in  the  Chicago  market  it  is  also  generally 
high  at  all  points  tributary  to  Chicago,  and 
so  it  is  not  alone  the  Chicago  millers  that 
have  to  suffer,  but  interior  millers  as  well. 
The  Canadian  trade  has  been  better,  and 
promises  favorable  during  the  balance  of  the 
season.  This  is  owing  to  the  partial  failure 
of  the  Canadian  wheat  crop,  and  notwith- 
standing there  is  an  import  tax  of  50c  on 
every  barrel  of  flour  imported  into  Canada 
the  trade  has  been  good.  The  demand  has 
been  chiefly  for  the  lower  grades,  though 
some  good  "stock  was  also  taken — including 
choice  spring  wheat  bakers'  flours.  The 
Southern  trade  has  been  smaller  than  usual, 
although  this  trade  with  Chicago  has  been 
on  the  decrease  for  several  years,  other 
sources  evidently  having  developed  from 
which  to  draw  supplies.  The  local  trade  has 
been  very  good,  a  steady  demand  coming  from 
this  source.  Jobbers  have  complained  some- 
what of  doing  less  business,  but  this  was 
only  in  exceptional  cases,  and  can  be  attrib- 
uted to  an  increased  number  of  firms  enter- 
ing the  jobbing  trade,  besides  other  channels 
of  distribution,  thus  causing  a  more  scat- 
tered business.  The  family  trade  has  cen- 
tered in  spring  wheat  patents,  winter  wheat 
patents,  and  winter  wheat  straights.  The 
difference  in  cost  between  spring  wheat 
patents  and  winter  wheat  straights  has  va- 
ried from  50c  to  $1  per  barrel,  and  as  winter 
wheat  straights  have  been  the  cheaper  of  the 
two,  the  local  family  trade  has  catered  chiefly 
to  these  The  city  milling  interest  forms  a 
very  important  feature  of  this  market. 
There  are  now  two  mills  running  in  this  city 
day  and  night,  whose  aggregate  production 
for  the  past  year  was  about  350,000  barrels. 
A  large  share  of  this  manufacture  has  found 
a  market  in  foreign  lands,  and  a  portion  has 
been  taken  Jfor  home  consumption. 
And  while  speaking  of  the  city  mills 
it  would  not  be  out  of  place  to  state 
that  another  mill  is  in  course  of  erection, 
the  daily  capacity  of  which  will  be  500  bar- 
rels per  day.  This  mill,  like  the  others,  will 


also  be  supplied  with  all  the  new  and  im- 
proved machinery,  thus  giving  Chicago  a 
milling  capacity  of  about  1,800  to  2,000  bar- 
rels per  day,  if  taxed  to  full  capacity.  The 
Stock  of  flour  on  hand  at  the  opening  of  the 
year  1883  was  reported  at  80,217  barrels, 
and  this  was  the  largest  amount  on  hand  at 
any  time  during  the  year.  The  smallest 
stock  in  store  was  in  October,  when  it  was 
reported  at  38,074  barrels.  At  the 
close  of  the  year  the  stack  was  about 
43,000  barrels.  The  year  opened 
with  choice  to  fancy  winter  wheat  flours  sell- 
ing at  $4. 75  to  $5. 40.  good  to  choice  Minne- 
sota straights  at  $4. 50  to  $5. 25,  and  patents 
at  $5.75  to  $7.  Until  June  the  market  ruled 
firm,  when  winters  sold  up  to  $5.50  to  $6,25, 
Minnesota  to  $5  to  $5.75,  and  patents  to 
$6. 50  to  $7. 50,  but  during  the  last  naif  prices 
eased  off  to  $4. 50  to  $5.  65  for  winters.  $4. 50 
to  $5. 25  for  Mmnesotas.  and  $5. 90  to  $6. 50 
for  patents.  Eye  flour  has  ruled  lower  the 
past  year  under  free  offerings,  and  sold  within 
the  range  of  $3  to  $4  per  barrel,  and  as  low 
as  $2.65  to  $2.85  a  sack. 

The  following-  table  exhibits  the  closing 
figures  for  the  years  named: 

1883,      1S82.     1881.     t8SO. 

>7.?5$l,50<a6.00 
-.00    4.00(«;,.-!;> 

.     „ .25    4.50<8ti.2r> 

Patents 5.80^(1.50    5.75A700    7.00(^8.50    6.00(3)7.25 

Low  erades...,  •->.-'.  c<£V.O  2.00(313.50  8.25@4.  5  2.£>@  <.50 
For  the  first  time  in  several  years  flour  nas 
again  been  consigned  from  Colorado  to  Chi- 
cago, several  shipments  having  been  made 
during  the  last  few  months. 

The  exports  from  the  United  States  for  the 
year  1883  aggregated  about  9,000.000  brla, 
against  7,200,000  brls.  for  the  year  18S2. 

The  following  cable  shows  the  quantities 
of  flour  manufactured  in  this  city  during  the 
past  ten  years : 


Year. 


Brls. 


1874 244,668 

1875 249,653 

1876 271,074 

1377 293,244 


1878 308,284 


The  following  table 


Year. 


Brls. 


1879 285,904 

1880  270,000 

1881 250,000 

Iss-_> 305,000 


1883 358,000 


exhibits   the    receipts 


and  shipments    of   flour   at   Chicago  during 
the  past  ten  years: 


Year. 


RECEIVED. 


Brls. 


SHIPMENTS. 

Year.  Brls. 


1875... 

...2,625,883 

1875  

2,285,113 
2,644,838 
2.482,305 
2,779,640 
3,090,540 
2,862,737 
4,499,743 
3,  843,067 
4,019,234 

1876... 

2,955,197 

1876  

1877... 

2,691,142 

1877  

1878... 
1879... 
1880.  . 

3,030,562 
3,:j(;i>,!)5s 
3,'-!l,VSs<> 

1878  
1879  
1880  

1881... 
1882  . 

4,815,249 
4,179,912 

1881  
1882 

1883... 

4,403.982 

1S83  

WINTER    WHEAT.  x 

Early  in  the  year  trade  was  restricted 
somewhat  by  the  very  limited  offerings.  The 
demand  was  good  and  the  feeling  was  strong, 
which  was  attributed  principally  to  the  un- 
favorable advices  regarding  the  growing 
crop.  No.  2  red  sold  at  the  opening  of  the 
year  at  95c,  and  advanced  in  February  to 
$1. 13.  but  again  eased  off  and  in  April  sold 
down  to  $1.05.  As  crop  advices  continued 
unfavorable  the  market  again  took  an 
upward  course,  and  by  the  last  of  May  and 
the  1st  of  Jute  sold  up  to  $1. 15  to  Si.  16. 
The  advance  was  stimulated  largely  by  the 
active  speculation  which  prevailed  in  regular 
No.  2  wheat,  winter  wheat  sympathizing  to  a 
great  extent.  In  June  the  market  com- 


126 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUEY. 


menced  to  react,  and  take  a  downward 
course,  prices  declining,  reaching: 
$1.04  to  $1.06  during  the  first 
half  of  July.  This  decline  was  due  largely 
to  the  reaction  in  the  speculative  market,  and 
also  to  the  more  general  belief  that  the  short- 
age of  the  crop  had  been  greatly  overesti- 
mated. Early  in  August,  when  the  new  crop 
commenced  to  move  more  freely,  sales  were 
beinsrmade  at  $1.06  to  $1. 07*2,  and  from 
that  ^advanced  to  $1. 10.  In  September,  how- 
ever, prices  reached  98c,  and  in  Octo- 
ber 96c  to  97c,  advancing  later 
on  to  $1.03  to  $1.05.  During  the 
last  few  months  of  the  year  sold  within 
within  96o  to  $1.02  and  closed  quiet  Trade 
has,  on  the  whole,  been  very  good,  though 
less  than  during  the  year  1882,  which  would 
be  natural  considering  the  large  shortage  of 
the  comparative  crops  of  the  years  1882  and 
1883.  A  steady  shipping  and  fair  milling 
demand  has  existed.  The  speculative  de- 
mand was  good  about  the  time  the  new  crop 
was  beginning  to  move  and  for  a  while  there- 
after, but  during  the  last  quarter  no  specula- 
tion existed. 

WHEAT. 

That  speculation  has  been  more  active  in 
this  market  than  during  the  year  1882  must 
certainly  be  admitted,  and  can  be  accounted 
for  from  several  reasons.  In  the  first  place, 
the  influences  presented  during  the  year  were 
such  as  to  create  and  stimulate  a  desire  for 
speculation.  Then  again  the  trading  in  No. 
2  wheat,  which  allows  the  delivery  of  either 
No.  2  spring  or  No.  2  red  winter  on  contracts, 
and  which  was  not  in  force  until  the  last 
half  of  the  year  1882,  gave  dealers  more  con- 
fidence to  trade  without  so  great  a  likelihood 
of  becoming  involved  in  a  squeeze  or  being 
cornered.  This  led  to  free  trading,  so  that 
speculation  during  the  year  has  been  carried 
on  with  unrestrained  freedom,  frequently 
to  excess,  either  in  buying  or  selling,  which 
led  to  bad  results.  In  reviewing  this  market 
for  the  past  year,  many  important  features 
and  points  of  interest  are  brought  to  memory. 
From  the  opening  to  the  close  of  the  year  the 
course  of  the  market  has  been  one  ot  great  un- 
certainty, and  many  operators  have  been  badly 
misled,  not  alone  by  their  own  calculations, 
for  such  an  occurrence  is  nothing  unusual, 
but  principally  by  statistical  information, 
both  of  an  official  character  and  otherwise. 
The  short  crop  theorists  no  doubt  suffered 
severely  financially.  Estimates  of  the  wheat 
crop  as  early  as  there  was  any  possible  chance 
to  give  them  were  made,  setting  forth  a 
shortage  of  100.000,000  bu  to  125,000,000 
bu,  as  compared  with  the  official  crop  re- 
turns of  the  year  1882.  How  badly  opera- 
tors were  misled  by  placing  too  much  confi- 
dence in  crop  reports  can  best  be  told  by 
those  who  stubbornly  adhered  to  the  short 
crop  theory  to  the  last.  The  final  estimates 
placed  the  crop  of  1883  at  420,000,000  bu, 
against  the  returns  of  503.000,000  bu  of  1882. 
which  would  give  a  shortage  of  83,000,000 
bu.  While  perhaps  there  was  a  large  short- 
age of  winter  wheat,  estimated  from  75,- 
000,000  to  100, 000,000  bu.  the  spring  wheat 
yielded  better  than  anticipated.  Then, 
again,  many  operators  overlooked  the  fact  of 
liberal  stocks  of  old  wheat  remaining  in  the 
interior  and  at  the  principal  markets  both  at 
home  and  abroad.  But  the  various  views  and 
opinions  on  this  subject  gave  ample  oppor- ' 
tunities  for  speculation,  and  the  more  di- 


versified the  opinions  and  views  of  operators 
the  larger  the  trading.  The  continual  dis- 
paraging tenor  of  advices  concerning  the  con- 
dition of  the  winter  wheat,  caused  by  the 
thawing  and  alternate  freezing  weather  last 
winter,  "and  also  of  the  backwardness  of  the 
spring  wheat  crop,  brought  out  the  fears  of  a 
short  crop,  which,  together  with  the  unfa- 
vorable nature  of  advices  concerning  the 
Europen  crops  formed  the  speculative  basis 
and  principal  theme  of  speculation  during 
the  early  portion  of  the  year.  But  before  the 
close  of  the  last  half  of  the  year  the  condi- 
tion of  affairs  became  such  as  to  work  a 

WONDERFUL  CHANGE  IN  PEICES. 

and  many  who  hadbeen  "bulls"  at  over  $1. 15 
per  bushel  were  the  strongest  "bears"  under 
$1  per  bushel.  This  great  transformation  of 
ideas  was  brought  ab  out  largely  by  the  very 
liberal  stocks  of  wheat  and  the  unfavorable 
and  unsatisfactory  outlook  of  the  condition 
of  affairs  financially.  Failures  of  mercantile 
houses  occurred'^ requently,  occasionally  in- 
volving prominent  houses  throughout  the 
United.  States;  also  abroad.  Then  oc- 
curred the  heavy  failure  of  the  firm 
which  engineered  the  great  lard  cor- 
ner, and  which  dragged  down  numerous 
other  local  houses.  These  failures  were  fol- 
lowed by  a  panicky  feeling  in  stocks,  until 
fears  were  really  entertained  of  a  general 
panic  ensuing.  These  fears,  however,  were 
dispelled  as  the  financial  outlook  appeared 
more  encouraging.  But  the  continued  unu- 
sually heavy  receipts  for  the  last  quarter  of 
the  year  preVented  any  material  or  perma- 
nent advance,  although  the  depression  and 
almost  panicky  feeling,  it  might  be  said,  was 
checked,  and  frequently  a  rally  of  3c  to  5c 
per  bushel  occurred.  The  stock  of  wheat  in 
store  in  the  Chicago  elevators  at  the  opening 
of  the  year  1883  was  reported  at  5,196,000 
bushels,  and  never  during  the  year  was  the 
stock  reduced  below  5,000.000  bushels,  but 
when  the  new  crop  commenced  to  move 
freely  a  steady  accumulation  occurred,  and 
at  the  close  of  the  vear  the  stock  in  store  was 
about  12,000.000  bushels.  The  visible  sup- 
ply at  the  principal  points  of  accumulation 
in  Canada  and  the  United  States  increased 
from  21,048,000  bushels  at  the  opening  of 
the  year  to  35,531,000  bushels  at 
the  close  of  the  year.  The  shipping 
demand  has  been  much  less  tha'n  in 
former  years,  the  export  demand  having 
been  unusually  light.  The  exports  for  the 
past  year  were  about  69,000,000  bushels, 
against  about  108,000,000  bushels  for  the 
year  1882.  This  has  been  due  in  the  first 
place  to  the  high  prices  prevailing  daring 
the  early  months,  and  later  to  the  fact  that 
foreign  wheat  came  in  competition  with 
American,  and  beinsr  sold  for  less  of  course 
was  taken'in  preference,  so  that  foreign  or- 
ders were"  far  below  the  average.  Besides, 
European  markets  have  been  pretty  heavily 
supplied  with  old  wheat  and  merchants  there 
really  had  not  any  pressing  wants  to  supply, 
and  they  could  act  independently  about  buy- 
ing. Fluctuations  in  prices  during  the  year 
have  extended  through  a  range  of  23  ^c,  and 
during  the  year  1882  throusrh  a  range  of 
487gc,  in  1880  through  45%;,  and  1879 
through  52c.  The  market  on  the  2d  day  of 
January,  1883,  ranged  at  935g@93'78c,  and 
these  were  the  lowest  prices  for  the  first  half 
of  the  year.  Prices  advanced  with  frequent 
fluctuations  to  $1.13 1*2,  which  figure  was 
reached  in  June,  and  from  that  sold  off  to 
90c  in  October,  again  reached  99140  in  De- 
cember, but  receded  again  and  closed  easier. 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


iar 


The  following:  table  shows  the  receipts  and 
shipments  of  wheat  in  this  marKet  during  the 
past  tea  years : 


Year. 

1874.. 

1875.. 

1876.. 

1877.. 

1878. 

1879.. 

1  880. . 

1S81.. 

1882.. 

1883 20,313.065 


Received,  bu 

•_'!>,764.622 

24,206,370 

16,574,058 

14,764,515 

29,713,571 

...34, 10(>.  109 
...23,541,607 
...14,284,990 
...23,008,596 


Year. 

1874.. 
1875.. 
1876.. 
1877.. 
187S.. 
1879.. 
1880.. 
1881.. 
1882.. 


Shipped  ,bu. 
...27.634,587 
...23,184.319 
...14,361,950 
...14,909,160 
...24,211,739 
..31,006,789 
..22,796,288 
..17,127,540 
..19,797,884 


1883 11,708,385 


CORN. 

More  interest  than  usual  centered  in  the 
corn  market  during  the  year  1883,  which 
may  be  attributed  to  the  peculiar  and  in 
aome  instances  unlocked  for  surrounding's  of 
the  trade.  An  unusually  large  speculative 
business  was  transacted  throughout  the 
year,  and  the  shipping  demand  was  very 
large,  especially  during  the  season  of  lake 
navigation.  The  demand  for  export  was 
considerably  increased,  the  lower  range  of 
prices  encouraging  the  movement,  and  in- 
creased quantities  were  forwarded  to  Great 
Britain  and  Continental  Europe.  The  crop 
of  1882  was  undoubtedly  a  heavy  oae — prob- 
ably larger  than  officially  reported — as  the, 
receipt*  at  Chicago  were  increased  about  50 
per  ceut  The  quality,  however,  was  not 
quite  as  good  as  that  of  the  preceding  year — 
less  than  50  per  cent  of  the  arrivals  being 
K.ti table  to  deliver  on  special  contracts.  The 
backward  and  wet  spring  interfered  some- 
what with  the  planting  of  the  crop  of  1883, 
and  the  cool  weather  during  the  summer 
tended  to  retard  its  growth.  The  crop,  how- 
ever, at  midsummer  was  regarded  as  two 
to  three  weeks  late,  but  with  a  favor- 
able autumn  it  was  anticipated  that 
the  aggregate  yield  would  reach  1,800,000,- 
000  bushels — possibly  more — and  on  the 
strengtn  of  this  supposition  large  sales  were 
made  for  future  delivery.  About  the  middle 
of  September,  the  crop  was  reported  seriously 
injured  by  frost — so  much,  so  that  crop  inter- 
ests were  reduced  to  1.550,000,000  bushels. 
The  unfavorable  and  changeable  weather 
during  the  fall  and  early  winter  months 
tended  to  damage  the  quality  of  the  crop, 
and  while  the  aggregate  yiela  may  not  be 
materially  lessened,  yet  there  is  little  doubt 
but  the  quantity  of  good  merchantable  corn 
will  be  proportionately  less  than  usual.  In  the 
northern  parts  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and 
Iowa,  and  throughout  the  States  of  Michi- 
gan, Witcond'.n  and  Minnesota,  the  damage 
by  frost  and  warm,  wet  weather  has  been 
more  serious  than  elsewhere.  The  domestic 
demand  for  corn  during  the  year  1883  was 
largely  from  the  seaboard  cities  and  the 
interior  points  of  the  Eastern  and  Middle 
States.  The  inquiry  from  the  South  was  lets 
urgent,  as  that  section  of  the  country  was 
favored  with  a  good  crop  last  season.  The 
demand  from  the  distilling  interests 
was  quite  brisk,  but  confined  largely 
to  the  lower  grades.  The  glucose 
manufacturers  also  purchased  rather 
freely,  more  particularly  during  the 
early  part  of  the  year.  Live  stock  raiders  in 
some  sections  al^o  bought  moderate  quanti- 
ties. While  prices  have  not  fluctuated 
within  qi}ite  as  \vide  a  range  as  durnig  1883, 
vet  the  fluctuations  have  been  frequent,  and 
in  some  instances  were  somewhat  extended. 
The  market  opened  rather  tame  with  the  ad- 


vent of  the  year  at  49^0  for  No.  2,  but  un- 
der the  influence  of  an  urgent  demand  prices 
were  rapidly  advanced  about  20c  during  the 
latter  part  of  January,  reaching  the  highest 
fisure  of  the  year — 70c.  Th«  appreciation  in 
prices  was  so  sudden  that  "shorts"  were  dis- 
satisfied and  they  appealed  to  the  courts  for 
an  injunction,  restraining  certain  parties 
from  calling  for  excessive  margins,  which 
had  the  effect  to  greatly  unsettle  the  market 
and  caused  a  reduction  of  14c  to  16c  in  prices 
Defore  the  close  of  the  month.  After  that 
period  trading  slackened  considerably,  and 
the  fluctuations  in  prices  were  slight  during 
the  succeeding  five  months.  In  July,  with 
warmer  weather,  the  outlook  for  the  grow- 
ing crop  was  regarded  more  favorable,  and 
(speculative  operators  were  more  inclined 
to  sell  for  future  delivery.  The  receipts 
at  that  time  were  quite  large,  in- 
dicating that  farmers  had  more  confi- 
dence in  the  maturing  of  the  crop  of  1883, 
therefore  being  more  willing  to  dispose  of 
their  surplus  corn.  Prices  gradually  receded 
to  4758C  during  the  early  part  of  that  month, 
but  toward  the  close  rallied  again  to  53c. 
During  the  month  of  August  the  receipts 
were  unusually  large — more  than  double 
those  of  the  corresponding  month  in  1882. 
Prices  ruled  with  considerable  steadiness,  es- 
pecially as  the  shipping  demand  was  brisk — 
fluctuations  during  that  month  being  con- 
fined within  a  range  of  23gc.  In  September 
the  market  was  very  active  on  both  shipping 
and  speculative  account,  and  the  movement 
to  and  from  the  city  was  very  large.  For 
immediate  delivery  prices  were  moderately 
well  maintained,  but  speculators  were  in- 
clined to  discount  prices  for  future  delivery. 
Fluctuations  in  prices  were  more  frequent 
and  the  extreme  range  was  45gc.  The  re- 
ports of  frost  in  some  sections  of  the  West 
tenaeu  to  a  steadier  feeling  in  the  market, 
inasmuch  as  fears  were  entertained  of 
damage  to  the  crop  owing  to  its  backward- 
ness. During  the  early  part  of  October  prices  re- 
ceded to  46c — the  lowest  of  the  year — but 
closed  steadier.  Speculators  were  now  at- 
tracted to  the  market,  and  during  the  balf 
ance  of  the  year  an  unusually  heavy  business, 
was  transacted,  and  prices  gradually  ad- 
vanced lOc  to  12c  on  the  whole  range,  due 
in  a  measure  to  the  continued  unfavorable 
and  changeable  weather,  which  greatly  in- 
terfered in  securing  the  crop,  and  rendering' 
the  inspection  of  corn  from  some  sections 
rather  unsatisfactory,  thereby  reducing  the 
quantity  of  good  merchantable  corn  suitable 
for  delivery  on  contracts. 

The  following  table  shows  the  receipts  and 
shipments  of  corn  at  Chicago  during  the  past 
ten  years:  , 

Year.  Received  bu.|Year.  Shipped,  bu 


1874  .. 

....  35,790,  63S 

1874 

32  705  224 

I^T;>... 

1876.... 
1S77.... 
1878  
1879.... 
1880.... 
1881.... 
1882.... 
1883.... 

....28.341,150 
....48.668,640 

....47,915,728 
..  63,651,518 
....61,339,311 
....97.  272,  -M  1 
....7s,  393,395 
..  49.06l,7.v. 
....74,459,948 

1875  
1876  
1877  
1878  
1S79  
1880  
1881  

1S*2  

1883... 

..26,443.884 
..45.629,035 
.  46,361.901 

..59,9  n,  200 

..61.299,376 

..9::.  :.72,  934 

..75,463,213 
..49,073,609 
..71,098,399 

OATS. 

The  volume  of  business  transacted  in  this 
market  compares  very  favorably  with  that  of 
former  years.  Abundant  crops  for  two  years 
have  given  this  market  a  very  large  quantity 
of  oats  to  care  for,  ann  the  excellent  quality, 
together  with  reasonable  prices,  have  been 


128 


CHICAGO'S  FIHST  HAL?  CKM'URf. 


the  means  of  attracting  large  orders,  and  the 
shipping  business  has  grown  very  much. 
The  facilities  for  taking  care  of  oats,  it 
seems,  have  been  increased  at  various  points, 
and  this  market  has  been  liberally  patron- 
ized by  all  distributing  centers,  and  when- 
ever prices  reached  a  reasonable  point,  oats 
were  bought  in  large  quantities  by  shippers 
and  placed  where  they  would  be  available 
when  wanted,  or  in  other  words,  stocks  were 
secured  to  meet  the  expected  consumptive 
wants.  This  fiad  the  effect  of  keeping  the 
market  quite  steady,  and  during  the  past 
year  prices  covered  a  range  of  only  18c,  while 
the  year  before  the  range  was  Sl^c.  By  this 
mea'ns  shippers  were  prepared  to  meet  any 
manipulation  of  the  market,  enabling  them  to 
hold  off  at  times  when  prices  were  advanced, 
and  bringing1  them  to  market  again  when  a 
reaction  occurred.  The  price  of  oats  was 
cheaper  than  in  1882,  probably  for  the  rea- 
son of  an  ample  supply,  and  the  figures  show 
that  the  market  did  not  reach  within  18  ^c 
of  the  highest  point  in  1882,  and  on  the  in- 
side range  they  sold  5^c  lower.  A  good  deal 
of  speculation  was  indulged  in,  and  "longs" 
were  not  generally  favored  in  realizing  their 
expectations,  but  in  several  instances  their 
disappointment  was  quite  serious.  Prices,  it 
seems,  were  not  destined  to  rule  very  high, 
one  reason  being  the  excellent  arrangement 
made  by  shippers  to  secure  and  maintain  tneir 
supplies,  and  another  being  the  continued 
free  receipts  due  to  large  crops.  The  stock  of 
oats  was  very  heavy  during  the  first  four 
months  of  the  year,  ranging  from  700,000 
bushels  to  1,000,000  bushels  more  than  for 
the  same  months  the  year  before.  Larere 
purchases  had  been  made  for  deferred  deliv- 
eries, speculation  in  this  direction  having 
been  encouraged  by  the  high  prices  during 
May,  June,  and  July  in  1882.  "Longs"  ex- 
pected an  improvement,  in  consequence  of  a 
large  outward  movement,  consequent  to  the 
opening  of  navigation.  The  opening  of  navi- 
gation did  witness  unusually  large  ship- 
ments, but  the  large  yield  during  1882  also 
had  a  telling  effect.  Holders  in  the  country 
had  been  somewhat  expectant  of  seeing 
prices  go  up  during  the  time  mentioned,  and 
large  quantities  of  oats  were  held  back 
which  came  forward  freely  in  the  spring,  and 
there  were  ample  stocks  to  meet  any  emer- 
gency. The  leading  markets  also  became 
unsettled  and  easy,  and  the  heavy  decline 
occasioned  by  financial  troubles  soon  caused 
a  settling  up  of  contracts,  and  the  market 
from  May  to  September  declined  stead- 
ily from  43  cents  to  25  centa 
Later  in  the  year  the  market  became 
more  settled,  the  shipping  business  was  good 
from  the  time  new  oats  first  came  on  the 
market  *  The  quality  of  the  new  crop  was 
in  everv  wav  desirable  and  this  exerted  a 
good  demand.  Most  of  the  business  was 
one  by  sample,  and  the  receipts  were  so 
nearly  all  taken  that  the  stock  rather  de- 
creased tnan  increased,  and  was  much 
smaller  at  the  close  of  the  year  than  at  the 
same  time  the  year  before.  A  fair  degree  of 
speculative  interest  was  kept  up,  but  the 
feeling  was  quite  uncertain  and  operators 
were  not  staying  in  the  market  with  a  view 
of  seeing  it  go  to  any  particular  point,  but 
a  fair  profit  on  either  side  seemed  to  be  a 
sufficient  inducement  to  settle  contracts  and 
prices  ruled  quite  steady,  recovering  from 
the  inside,  or  25c,  in  September,  until  reach- 
ing 34@35c  in  December.  The  crop  this  year 
was  about  4  per  cent  larger  than  last  year 
and  was  estimated  at  a  little  over  500,000,- 
000  bushels. 


The  following  table  exhibits  the  receipts 
and  shipments  of    oats  at  Chicago  for  the 
past  ten  years : 
Year.  Received  bu.| Year.  Shipped  bu. 


1880 23,490,915 

1881 24,861,538 

1882 26,802,872 

1883 37,800,442 


1880 20,649,427 

1881 .23,075,177 

1882 23,658,239 

1883 33,117,706 


Two  very  striking  features  are  noticed  in 
the  records  of  this  market  for  the  past  year. 
The  one  is  the  heavy  movement;  the  other 
the  low  range  of  prices.  The  highest  price 
in  1883,  which  was  68c,  did  not  come  within 
28c  of  the  highest  figure  of  the  year  before, 
which  was  96c,  and  yet  in  comparing  inbide 
prices,  rye  this  year  ranged  only  about  2c 
under  the  inside  price  of  the  preceding  year. 
While  a  smaller  average  price  is  thus  shown 
the  market  ruled  more  steady,  that  is  the 
fluctuations  were  not  so  severe,  the  range,  in 
act,  for  the  whole  year  was  only  15c,  while 
in  1882  prices  covered  a  range  of  40^2c. 
Considerable  more  rye  was  carried  in  store 
than  during  any  previous  time.  Stocks  ac- 
cumulated steadily  earlv  in  the  year,  starting 
at  408,102  bu,  and  increasing:  to  835,232  bu 
in  May.  The  demand  for  rye  was  very  lim- 
ited. Foreign  orders  were  scarce,  and  the 
consumptive  demand  was  very  light 
for  distillers,  with  1,500,000  brls"  of 
whisky  on  hand,  came  to  an  un- 
derstanding that  they  would  run  only 
20  per  cent  of  their  capacity.  The  market 
from  January  to  June  was  a  dragging  one, 
and  prices  early  in  the  year  ranged  at  about 
60  to  63c,  with  occasionally  68c  reached, 
and  the  market  early  in  July  ranged  down  to 
53c.  About  this  time  the  foreign  crop  was 
reported  badly  damaged  and  30  to  40  per 
cent  less  than  usual  Our  rye  was  low,  and 
foreign  buvers  soon  sent  large  orders  to  this 
country.  During  July  and  August  about 
1,000,000  bu  of  old  rye  was  taken,  and 
during  August  and  September  about  3,000,- 
000  bu  of  new  rye  went  for  export.  The 
price  did  not  go  up  much,  but  remained  at  55 
to  62c,  and  the  reason  for  it  not  going  up 
more  was  that  the  stock  has  been  enormously 
large  and  the  new  crop  came  forward  with  a, 
freedom  never  before  witnessed.  The  exist- 
ence of  a  foreign  demand  also  exerted  a  very 
large  speculative  trade.  After  September 
the  export  demand  fell  off  entirely,  for  t:ie 
shortage  in  the  foreign  crop  was  lowered  to 
about  15  to  20  per  cent,  and  Russia  was  said 
to  be  sending  rye  to  ail  foreign  markets.  The 
home  consumptive  demand,  which  had 
amounted  to  but  little,  continued  light  and 
although  this  was  the  case,  the  arrivals  were 
larger  than  during  any  previous  year.  Under 
this  state  of  affairs  stocks  kept  increasing, 
and  by  the  close  of  the  year  the  supply  here 
exceeded  that  of  the  previous  year  by  over 
1,000,000  bushels.  During  the  latter  part  of 
the  year  prices  ranged  at  53@5<Sc.  Specu- 
lative holders  often  felt  rye  a  burden  and  the 
stock  changed  hands  frequently  "Longs" 
were  continually  transferring  their  contracts 
from  one  month  to  another,  and  considerable 
profit  was  derived  by  holders  of  the  actual 
property  in  the  way  of  carrying  charges. 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


129 


The  crop  was  estimated  early  as  short.  In 
the  southern  section  no  doubt  the  yield  has 
been  lighter,  for  rye  suffered  with  winter 
wheat  from  the  severe  cold  of  last  winter. 
On  the  other  hand  there  has  been  a  large 
gain  in  Wisconsin,  Nebraska,  Kansas,  aiid 
Missouri,  and  this  gain  is  said  to  more  than 
make  up  for  the  loss  in  other  sections,  which 
are  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Indiana,  Southern 
Illinois,  and  Southern  Iowa.  The  quality  of 
rye  this  year  has  been  exceptionally  fine, 
nearly  everything  coming  in  grading  No.  2. 
Kansas  has  been  the  leading  State  this  year 
in  the  production  of  rye. 

The  following  were  the  receipts  and  ship- 
ments of  rye  in  this  market  for  the  past  ten 
years: 


Year. 
1874  

Received,  bu. 
781,181 

Year. 
1874  

Shipped,  bu. 
335,077 

1875  
1876  

1877... 

699,583 
1,447,917 

.1,728,865 

1875  
1876  

1877  ... 

310.592 
1,433,976 
.  ..1,553,374 

1878... 

.  ...2,490,615 

1878.  .. 

2,025,654 

'1879.... 
1880  

2,497,340 
1,869,218 

1879  
IS8O  

2,234,363 
1,365,162 

1881  
1882... 

1.363,552 
1,984,516 

1881  
1882...  . 

1,104,452 
...1,773,148 

1883  

5,662,420 

1883  

....3,944,023 

BARLEY- 

More  barley  has  been  handled  in  this  mar- 
ket during  the  past  year  than  at  any  previous 
time.  Information  on  this  point  is  meager, 
but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  there  has  been  a  gain 
of  fully  4,000,000  bu,  the  receipts  and  ship- 
ments both  showing  a  heavy  increase.  A 
glance  at  the  stock  of  barley  in  store  on  the 
first  of  every  month  reveals  the  fact  that 
there  was  not  so  much  carried  in  our  elevators 
as  during  1882,  the  difference  is  greater 
during  the  latter  part  of  this  year.  Thia  may 
seem  "inconsistent  with  the  statement  of  a 
heavier  movement,  but  it  is  a  fact  which  will 
hereafter  be  explainei  Prices  have  ruled 
lower  than  for  two  years  past,  on  the  whole 
range,  as  compared  with  the  range  of  1882. 
No.  2  exhibits  a  shrinkage  of  18c  to 
23c  per  bu,  and  as  compared  with 
the  decline  is  still  greater,  for  even  1882  was 
considered  quite  a  low  year.  The  crop  of  barley 
was  estimated  as  a  trifle  less  than  4,000,000 
bushels,  tiae  yield  of  1882.  The  quality  was 
not  in  all  respects  satisfactory,  for  the  barley 
received  here  from  the  various  States  shows 
that  barlev  from  Nebraska,  heretofore  the 
best  producing  country  of  the  West,  was 
light,  stained,  and  common,  being  affected 
by  the  rainy  weather  of  the  fall.  Iowa  and 
Wisconsin  yielded  the  best  Li  quality,  though 
these  are  not  important  States  when  quan- 
tity is  considered.  Minnesota  ranged  next, 
and  it  must  be  said  the  barley  from  this  State 
turned  out  better  than  was  expected  from  the 
appearance  of  the  first  consignments  re- 
ceived, and  it  finally  met  with  considerable 
favor  from  buyers.  Trade  in  barley  was 
liberal.  Speculative  trading  was,  perhaps, 
slightly  increased  on  the  new  crop  on  account 
of  "the  «rade  No.  2  being  changed  in  Septem- 
ber. It  was  changed  so  as  to  admit  of  a 
little  wider  range  in  color.  The  reason  of 
changing  was  that  heretofore  the  grade  was 
so  high  tliat  little  barley  coming  in  would 
grade  No.  2,  and  hence  little  was  done  in  the 
grade  which  had  always  been  made  a  basis 
for  prices.  The  objections  at  first  made 
to  the  change  were  soon  overcome,  for 
it  was  found  that  the  barley  was  sound 
and  as  gfood  for  malting  as  could  be  desired. 
The  cash  business  was  nearly  all  done  by 


sample,  and  this  accounts  for  there  being 
less  barley  in  store  than  a  year  ago.  Local 
brewers  and  maitsters  took  the  No.  2  by  sam- 
ple about  as  fast  as  it  arrived,  and  shippers 
bought  the  No.  3.  After  brewers  had  se- 
cured good  stocks  some  No.  2  was  allowed  to 
go  into  store,  and  this  brought  shippers  on 
the  market,  and  finally,  late  in  the  year,  we 
find  speculators  taking  it.  Prices  ruled  low, 
for  late  in  1882  there  was  an  over  produc- 
tion of  malt,  whioh  had  a  weakening  effect 
upon  the  market.  Buyers  preferred  to  buy 
by  sample,  because  they  could  get  a  better 
selection.  Selling  by  sample  also  had  many 
advantages  for  receivers  for  a  great  deal  of 
barley,  owing  to  slight  blemishes,  just  missed 
gradiilg  No.  2,  and  was  much  better  than 
what  would  pass  for  No.  3  in  store,  and  re- 
ceivers for  this  reason  found  it  to  their  ad- 
vantage to  sell  by  sample.  Low  grades  were 
iuvariably  dull,  and  had  to  be  sold  cheap. 
The  quantity  of  really  poor  barley  re- 
ceived was  comparatively  small,  how 
ever,  it  being  used  presumably  for  feed 
in  the  country.  It  requires  but  a  small 
space  to  follow  prices  during  the  year.  No. 
2  ranged  for  old  barlev  at  7(>c  to  85c,  and 
closed  at  80c.  During  June  and  July  there 
was  no  market  New  No.  2  opened  at  70c, 
and  declined  to  57c  in  September,  but  later 
rallied  again  to  6oc  to  67c.  Sample  lots  sold 
a  trifle  over  in-store  prices.  In-store  prices 
for  the  other  grades  cut  no  figure,  trading 
being  almost  exclusively  by  sample  and  the 
in-store  market  was  a  good  part  of  the  time 
nominal.  No.  3  by  sample  covered  a  range 
of  45c  to  65c,  but  the  heavy  trading  in  the 
market  was  from  50c  to  56c.  No.  4  ranged 
at  38c  to  50c.  No.  5  sold  at  32c  to  38c,  ac- 
cording to  quality,  and  sales  of  screanings 
were  frequently  made  at  $8  to  $12  per  ton. 
The  shipping  business  was  largely  increased, 
over  former  years,  especially  of  the  new  crop, 
because  prices  weie  so  low  that  neither  Can- 
ada nor"  California  could  compete  with  the 
production  of  the  Northwest,  and  the  orders 
therefore  came  this  way. 

The  following  table    exhibits    the  receipts 
and  shipments  of  barley  in  this  market  dur- 
ing tne  past  ten  years: 
Year.          Received,  buJYear.  Shipped,  bu. 

1874 4,354,981.1874 2,404,538 

1875 3,107,2791875 1,868,206 

1876 4,71 6,360  1876 2,687,932 

1877 .4,990,379  1877 4,213,646 

1878 5,754,059  1 878 3,520,983 

1879 4,936,562  1879 3.566,401 

1880 5,211.5361880 3,110,985 

1881 5.695,3581881 3,113,251 

1882 6,488,140  1 882 3, 298,252 

1883 10,591, 619|l883 7,718.503 

m  

PACKING  AND  PROVISIONS. 

PORK    PACKING-. 

This  branch  of  trade  has  shown  some 
enlargement  during  the  past  year,  still  it  was 
not  as  large  in  the  aggregate  as  during  some 
former  years.  Chicago  is  still  the  largest 
packing  point  of  the  world,  and  bids  fair  to 
maintain  that  position  in  the  future.  Packers 
have  improved  their  facilities  for  slaughter- 
ing: hogs,  and  enlarged  their  warehouses  for 
the  curing  and  storage  of  products.  About 
twenty  of  the  large  firms  are  engaged  in  the 
business  during  the  greater  portion  of  the 
year — some  of  them  without  interruption — 
in  addition  to  which  an  equal  number  of 


130 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


smaller  firms  cut  a  fair  number  of  hogs  to 
supply  the  wants  of  the  local  retail  and  lake 
trade.  The  capacity  of  the  houses  is  about 
60,000  hogs  per  day.  The  packing  dur- 
ing the  summer  months  was  pros- 
ecuted quite  actively,  and  the  returns 
show  an  increase  of  about  150,000  hogs 
packed.  The  packing  for  the  past  year  ag- 
gregated about  4,350, 000  hogs,  or  an  increase 
of  about  350,000  hogs,  compared  with  the 
turns  of  last  year.  The  quality  of  the  hogs 
was  better  than  usual  during  the  summer 
months,  but  within  the  past  three  months 
has  not  been  as  desirable  as  the  packers  re- 
quire for  their  trade.  The  supply  of  hogs 
exhibits  little  change  from  that  of  last  year, 
but  packers  were  favored  with  an  increased 
supply,  owing  to  decreased  shipments  to 
Eastern  markets.  Prices  have  ruled  decidedly 
lower — about  20c  to  30  per  cent  on 
the  whole  range — and  the  aggregate 
cost  of  hogs  purchased  by  packers 
may  be  estimated  at  about  $55,000, 
000.  The  aggregate  amount  of  product 
made  may  be  estimated  about  7&o,- 
000,000  pounds,  which  may  be  classi- 
fied as  follows:  Sides  and  mess  pork,  370,- 
000,000 pounds;  hams,  145.000, 000 pounds; 
shoulders  125.000,000  pounds,  and  lard. 
145,000,000  pounda  The  number  of  hands 
employed  is  about  14,000  to  18,000— the 
larger  number  when  the  receipts  are  liberal, 
during  tlie  winter  months.  Very  few  changes 
have  been  made  in  the  manufacture,  the 
preference  being  given  to  those  articles  re- 
quired for  the  domestic  trade.  The  firms 
which  have  established  agencies  or  branch 
houses  in  foreign  markets  cut  the  larger  per- 
centage of  the  product  required  for  the  ex- 
port trade.  Mess  pork  attracted  considerable 
attention  during  the  "regular"  packing  sea- 
son, but  was  neglected  during  the  summer 
months.  Other  cuts  of  pork — chiefly  of  the 
lighter  descriptions — were  made  to"  a  fair 
extent,  to  meet  the  orders  re- 
ceived Lard  was  made  with  considerable 
freedom  during  the  spring  and  summer 
months,  but  met  with  less  favor  during  the 
colder  weather,  when  a  portion  of  the  raw 
material  could  be  disposed  of  satisfactorily 
to  the  butterine  manuf  acturera  Hams  were 
made  chiefly  into  domestic  cuts,  and  at- 
tracted considerable  attention  owing  to  the 
high  prices  obtainable.  Shoulders  made 
moderately  throughout  the  year.  Long  and 
short  clear  sides  met  with  a  little  more  favor, 
yet  the  manufacture  was  not  very  large, 
Short  rib  sides  were  cut  very  freely  through- 
out the  year,  and  met  with  more  favor  than 
any  other  cut.  Foreign  fancy  cuts  of  sides 
we're  made  moderately,  more  especially  by 
those  houses  which  have  a  regular  trade 
therefor.  Bellies  made  in  fair  quantities 
and  a  new  cut  of  shoulders  for  the  Western 
trade,  styled  "California  hams,"  attracted 
some  attention. 

PROVISIONS. 

The  provision  trade  of  Chicago  exhibited  a 
marked  degree  of  activity  during  the  year 
1883 — in  fact,  during  the  greater  portion  of 
the  time  it  attracted  more  attention  from  the 
speculative  element  than  any  other  market. 


The  supply  of  hog  products,  both  from  local 
and  interior  manufacturers,  was  larger  than 
the  previous  year,  consequently  operators 
were  in  better  position  to  meet  the  wants  of 
all  branches  of  the  trade.  The  demand  from 
the  domestic  markets  was  quite  active  during 
the  greater  portion  of  the  year,  yet  the  up- 
ward tendency  of  prices  at  times  checked  the 
trading  temporarily.  The  foreign  inquiry 
was  moderately  active,  yet  orders  were  gen- 
erally for  small  quantitiea  The  shipments 
direct  to  agencies  and  branch  houses  of 
manufactures,  however,  were  larger  than 
heretofore.  The  speculative  trading  was 
unusually  heavy — the  largest  on  record — 
more  particularly  during  the  first  five  months 
of  the  year.  The  unsettled  feeling  during 
the  middle  of  June,  followed  by  several 
heavy  failures  in  the  trade,  caused  a  marked 
decline  in  the  prices  of  the  speculative  arti- 
cles— mess  pork,  lard,  and  short  rib  sides. 
When  values  had  declined  about  20  to  25 
per  cent,  speculators  were  inclined  to  pur- 
chase to  some  extent  as  an  investment, 
deeming  the  shrinkage  in  prices  sufficient 
to  place  the  product  on  a  consuming  basia 
This  attempt  to  check  the  downward  ten- 
dency in  prices  proved  inefficient,  for  the 
feeling  continued  nervous  and  unset- 
tled and  a  further  reduction  was  sub- 
mitted to  until  oniy  about  55  per  cent  of 
former  prices  were  obtainable.  After  the 
severe  break  in  the  market  in  June,  there  ap- 
peared to  be  a  general  lack  of  confidence  in 
the  future  course  of  the  trade — not  because 
of  a  disbelief  in  the  actual  value  of  the  prop- 
erty, but  there  was  a  want  of  courage  on  the 
part  of  capitalists  to  take  hold,  with  the  re- 
membrance of  previous  severe  losses  staring 
them  in  the  f  aca  Our  trade  with  the  South 
was  unusually  heavy,  and  extended  over  a 
wider  extent  of  territory.  The  demand  was 
mainly  for  mess  pork,  hams,  sides,  shoul- 
ders, lard,  and  the  usual  variety  of  smoked 
meats.  In  the  winter  season  some 
of  the  larger  distributing  markets  pur- 
chased rather  freely  of  green  meats.  The 
smaller  interior  points  bought  with  consid- 
erable freedom  in  a  jobbing  way.  The  Pa- 
cific coast  markets  favored  our  merchants 
with  an  increased  number  of  orders,  but  gen- 
erally for  special  articles.  The  mining  dis- 
tricts of  the  Northwest  purchased  moder- 
ately of  certain  descriptions,  while  trade 
of  the  agricultural  districts  of  the  West  and 
Northwest,  which  have  been  rapidly  devel- 
oped and  traversed  by  new  railroads,  was 
very  materially  enlarged,  and  is  now  of  con- 
siderable importance.  Trade  with  Canada 
was  somewhat  light  during  the  first  half  of 
the  year,  but  after  the  shrinkage  in 
value  a  marked  improvement  was  noticed. 
The  lumber  districts  appeared  to  favor  our 
markets  more  than  usual,  and  the  lumber- 
men purchased  larger  quantities  of  product. 
Merchants  in  the  markets  of  the  Eastern  and 
Middle  States  sought  our  market  for  large 
quantities  of  product  to  meet  the  wants  of 
that  section,  and  our  trade  in  this  respect 
was  larger  than  heretofore.  Stocks  of  all 
kinds  have  been  quite  liberal  throughout  the 
year — at  times  more  than  ample  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  the  trade.  Mess  pork  was  in 
good  supply  throughout  the  year,  and  at 
times  was  quite  actively  inquired  for.  Prices 
ruled  somewhat  irregular  within  the  range 
of  $10.20  to  $20.15— the  highest  fierure 
reached  in  April  and  the  lowest  in  September 
and  October.  Other  cuts  of  pork  were  in 
moderate  demand,  but  the  bulk  of  the  trad- 
ing was  conducted  in  a  quiet  way.  Lard  at- 
tracted a  great  deal  of  attention,  and  trad- 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


131 


ing  was  very  large.  Prices  ruled  irregularly 
•within  the  range  of  $7.15  to  $12. 10— the 
highest  figure  reached  in  May  and  the  lowest 
in  October.  Exporters  purchased  rather 
freely  througnout  the  twelve  months,  and 
the  refining  demand  was  fully  up  to  that  of 
former  years.  Short  rib  sides  met  with  more 
favor,  both  from  speculators  and  shippers, 
and  sold  freely  at  an  irregular  range.  Sales 
to  merchants  in  the  Southern  markets  were 
unusually  heavy.  Prices  ranged  at  $5. 60  to 
$10.75— the  highest  paid  in  May  and  the 
lowest  in  September.  Green  meats  were 
active  during  the  fall  and  winter  months, 
and  large  deliveries  were  made  on 
previously  made  contracts  near  the  close 
of  the  year.  Pickled  meats — including  hams, 
shoulders,  and  bellies — were  in  good  demand 
throughout  the  year,  and  were  apparently 
less  affected  by  the  depression  in  the  trade 
than  most  other  articles.  Long  cut  hams 
were  purchased  moderately  by  exporters,  but 
trade  was  not  very  satisfactory.  Long  and 
short  clear  sides  were  inquired  for  in  fair 
quantities,  but  there  was  little  life  in  the 
trade.  Shoulders  were  sought  for  to  some 
extent  by  the  domestic  markets,  but  the 
foreign  demand  was  comparatively  light. 
Other  cuts  of  meats  were  in  moderate  re- 
quest, but  trading  was  generally  conducted 
in  a  quiet  way. 

Tne  following  table  exhibits  the  receipts 
and  shipments  of  hog  products  to  and  from 
Chicago  for  the  past  ten  years: 


BECEIPTS. 

Pork, 

Cut  meats. 

Years. 

Ibs. 

Ibs. 

Lard,  It>8. 

1874. 

.  39,695 

50,629,509 

24,145.225 

1875. 

.  49,205 

54,445,783 

21,982,423 

1876. 

.  45,704 

63.368,011 

33,620,928 

1877. 

.  35,249 

62,021,647 

27,236,359 

1878. 

.  33,073 

103,130,326 

37,748,958 

1879. 

.  64,389 

151,131,767 

75,754,117 

1880. 

.  39,091 

164,437,225 

68,387.204 

1881. 

.  52,298 

138,787,745 

61,403,671 

1882. 

.  78,895 

106,165,038 

40,696,384 

1883. 

.  53,098 

139,858,558 

70,924,732 

SHIPMENTS. 

1874. 

.231,350 

262,931,462 

82,209,887 

1875. 

.313,713 

362,941,943 

115,616,093 

1876. 

.319,344 

467,289,100 

138,216,376 

1877. 

.296,457 

479.926,231 

147,000,616 

1878. 

.346,366 

747,363,774 

244,323,933 

1879. 

.354,255 

835,629,540 

251,020,205 

1880. 

.267,324 

958,036,113 

333,539,138 

1881. 

.319,999 

782,993,729 

278.531,733 

1882. 

.435,625 

615,822,951 

235,473,520 

1883. 

.400,552 

674,499,355 

246,720,366 

LIVE  STOCK. 


A  TEAK  THAT  HAS  NEVEB  BEEN  EQUALED. 

In  many  respects  the  year  1883  in  the  Chi- 
cago live  stock  trade  has  been  more  remark- 
able than  its  predecessor,  while  in  some  par- 
ticulars the  year  stands  out  in  bold  relief, 
showing  records  that  have  never  been 
equaled  or  even  approached,  in  the  memory 
of  the  pioneers  in  the  trade. 

As  a  live  stock  market  Chicago  eclipses 
anything  that  has  been  known  here  in  the 
past;  never  was  there  such  an  extensive  and 
varied  demand  for  all  kinds  of  stock  as  has 
been  developed  within  the  past  twelve 
months.  Who  would  have  thought,  even  five 
years  ago,  that  any  market  in  the  world 
could  successfully  and  advantageously 
handle  an  average  of  more  than  40,000 
cattle  per  week  for  a  period  of  seven  or  eight 


successive  weeks?  The  figures  seem  almost 
incredible  even  now,  though  the  performance 
is  a  matter  of  record. 

The  capacity  of  the  Union  Stock  Yards  has 
been  added  to  considerably  during  the  year; 
the  chain  of  viaducts  for  handling  hogs  over- 
head, in  driving  to  the  packing  houses,  has 
been  increased,  and  the  yard  room  is  also 
much  greater  than  last  year. 

DECREASE  IN  HOGS. 

The  receipts  of  stock  for  the  year  greatly 
surprised  everyone,  both  as  to  quantity 
and  quality.  From  the  reports  circulated 
early  in  the  year  many  thought  that  the  re- 
ceipts of  hogs  would  necessarily  show  a  fall- 
ing off  of  several  hundred  thousand,  whereas 
the  decrease  has  been  only  about  160,000: 
and  if  the  increased  weight^of  the  hogs  this 
year  over  last  be  reduced  to  porkers  the  sup- 
plies for  the  past  year  would  have  been  fully 
50,OOO  head  more  than  in  1882.  This  is 
estimating  the  weight  of  the  hogs  at  250 
pounds.  Despite  the  talk  about  the  scarcity 
of  cattle  which  was  indulged  in  to  consider- 
able extent  early  in  the  season,  the 
arrivals  of  that  kind  of  stock 
were  entirely  unprecedented.  and 
showed  an  increase  of  about  300,000 
head  over  the  receipts  of  1882.  In  sheep  the 
increase  was  about  125,000  head,  which  is  a 
handsome  gain.  There  certainly  never  was 
a  year  with  so  many  successive  banner  days, 
weeks,  and  months  for  receipts  of  cattle  and 
sheep.  Nothing  very  extraordinary  occurred 
in  the  hog  department;  at  least  there  was 
nothing  to  press  the  largest  day  on  record — 
Nov.  25,  1879— when  64,643  hogs  arrived; 
but  the  quality  and  quantity  of  the  arrivals 
all  during  the  summer  caused  much  aston- 
ishment 

Prices  during  the  year  have  been  very  good 
on  the  whole,  and  for  hogs  in  particular,  dur- 
ing the  past  few  months,  have  been  higher 
than  anticipated.  No  kind  of  stock  sold  so 
high  as  in  the  preceding  year,  but  prices 
were  more  uniform  and  reliable. 

JOB  FOREIGN  MABKETB. 

The  export  demand  has  been  good  and 
shippers  to  foreign  markets  during  the  last 
half  of  the  year  were  busy  and  successful 
Early  in  the  season,  however,  cattle  export- 
ers made  large  contracts  for  vessel  room  and 
vast  sums  of  money  were  lost  in  April  and 
May.  In  fact  the  first  half  of  the  year  was 
very  disastrous  for  exporters  of  live  cattle. 
The  climax  came  in  June  when  the  pens  were 
flooded  with  the  finest  of  cattle  for  weeks  at 
a  time  and  prices  then  touched  the  bottom. 
From  that  time  to  the  close  the  prices  for  cat- 
tle were  upward,  and  the  closing  month  wit- 
nessed the  highest  rate*  of  the  year.  In  the 
hog  and  sheep  export  trade  there  were 
no  particularly  new  developments. 
For  the  most  part  such  stock  is 
shipped  drressed.  Foreign  mutton 

markets  have  been  favorable  and  the  only 
difficulty  in  the  way  of  a  magnificent  trade 
in  that  line  from  this  country  was  the  ina- 
bility of  purchasers  to  get  stock  of  good 
quality.  Of  late,  however,  there  has  been  a 
notable  improvement  in  the  quality  of  the 
sheep  coming  to  market,;md  it  is  evident  that 
it  will  not  be  many  years  before  America  can 
hold  her  own  with  any  country  at  producing 
mutton  of  high  quality.  There  has  been  a 
steady  demand  in  England  for  our  mutton, 
and  prices  have  been  temptingly  high,  but 
the  stock  was  lacking  to  supply  the  demand. 
The  reported  late  action  of  the  French  Gov- 
ernment in  raising  the  embargo  on  our  hog 
products  has  had  a  noticeable  effect  upon 


132 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


the  market  for  hogs,  but  this  action  will 
probably  be  abandoned,  or  the  decree  only  re- 
moved temporarily. 

THE  TOTAL  VALUATION. 

The  total  valuation  of  live  stock  received 
at  Chicago  during  the  year  was  about  $200,- 
000,000.  The  total  valuation  of  live  stock 
received  since  the  opening  of  the  yards  is 
$1.889.487,051,  making  an  average  of 
$104,971,000  for  each  year  since  the  opening. 
Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  1883,  which  was 
$204,000,000,  was  about  doub.e  the  average 
for  the  whole  time.  The  valuation  of  1883 
shows  an  increase  of  $8,000,000  over  its 
predecessor. 

During  the  past  year  the  daily  receipts 
averaged  6,000  cattle.  18,000  hogs,  and 
2,400  sheep.  During  the  month  of  October 
the  receipts  of  cattle  averaged  over  8,000. 

The  number  of  car-loads  of  all  kinds  of  live 
stock  received  at  the  Union  Stock  Yards  in 
1883  reached  almost  200,000,  and  the  car- 
loads shipped  oat  was  73,800. 

Included  in  the  number  of  cattle  purchased 
by  canners  and  dressed-beef  operators  are 
140,000  slaughtered  by  G.  H.  Hammond  & 
Co..  at  Hammond.  Ind.,  which  are  also  in- 
cluded in  the  shipments  of  live  cattle.  This 
must  be  borne  in  mind  when  deducting  tne 
live  shipments  and  dressed  beef  from  re- 
ceipts to  get  the  nnmber  of  cattle  left  for 
local  consumption.  It  must  also  be  remem- 
bered that  Armour  &  Co.  have  the  largest 
local  meat  market  in  the  country,  and  that  a 
great  deal  of  the  beef  handled  by  canners 
and  refrigerator  men  is  used  for  city  use. 

The  receipts  and  shipments  of  live  stock  at 
Chicago  for  the  past  year  are  given  below : 

KECEIPTS. 


KONTH8. 

Cattle.  'Calv's.'    Hogs. 

Sheep. 

H'rs's. 

69(8 
1,465 
2,335 
1,667 
1,409 
1,522 
944 
1,146 
1,314 
1,261 
898 
486 

January  
February  — 
March  
April  

165,540 
118,586 
141,795 
117.068 
134,531 
140.773 
153,228 
184,678 
172,888 
217,791 
167,393 
186,167 

1,056 
853 
1,596 
2,408 
3,860 
1.75SS 
1,979 
2,476 
5.220 
4,001 
2,716 
2,306 

740,674 
455,289 
269,(>66 
240,969 
370,849 
396,015 
351,820 
319,225 
3:;7,986 
516,949 
890.684 
750,499 

75,939 

75,442 
79.691 
70,700 
41,361 
35,876 
32,870 
50.268 
61,423 
77.925 
69,613 
78,626 

May  
June..  .. 

Jnlv  

August  
September  .  . 
October  
November... 
December... 

Total.... 
1882  

1,878,944  30,223 
1,582,530  24,965 

5.040.625 
5,817,504 

749,734 
628,887 

15,143 
13,856 

SHIPMENTS. 


MONTHS. 

Cattle. 

Calv's. 

Hogs. 

Sheep. 

40,304 
44.623 
55,677 
4.V270 
17,562 
11,620 
6,955 
17,845 
27,271 
32.098 
31,385 
42,151 

H'rs's. 

696 
1,425 
3,335 
1,608 
1,294 
1,398 
944 
1.027 
1,281 
1,194 
898 
499 

January  
I'Vbrnary  
March  
April  

87,967 
68,493 
80,341 
69.034 
74,937 
76,581 
74.723 
90,617 
82,990 

80.792 
77,886 

245 
148 
304 
1.078 
1,3  8 
183 
119 
654 
3,530 
1,961 
1,945 
1,146 

90,230 
112,639 
130,807 
95,136 
64,662 
85.735 
106,841 
94,3o8 
134,822 
1B4.H47 
108,997 
130,568 

May               . 

June  
July 

August  
September.. 
October  
November... 
December... 

Total  966,75RU2,K7l!l.319,192  ':>72,761  14,599 
1882  :    921,009  ,10,229  1.747.722,314,200,12,788 

BED  LETTER  DATS. 

The   largest   day's   receipts  on    record  at 
the  Union  Stock  yards  were  as  follows: 

Cattle,  Nov.  15,  1882 12,076 

Calves.  Sept.  28,  1881 1,428 

Hoes,  Nov.  25,  1879 64,643 

Sheep,  Dec.  5,1883 7,982 

Horses,  March  21,  18S1 369 

The    largest   weekly  receipts  were  as  fol- 
lows: 

Cattle,  week  ending  Oct.  20.  1883 52,192 

Calves,  week  ending  Aug.  27,  1881  3.366 

Hogs,  week  ending  Nov.  20.  1880 300  488 

Sheep,  weekending  Dec.  21,  1883 26,O40 

Horses,  week  ending  March  26,  1881 1,125 


The  largest  monthly  receipts  were  as  fol- 
lows: 

Cattle,  October,  1882 217791 

Calves,  August,  1881 11,'604 

Hogs,   November,  1880 1111997 

Sheep,  March,  1883 '".       79,691 

Horses,  March,  1881 2' 564 

The  largest  yearly  receipts  '  were  as  'fol- 
lows: 

Cattle,  1883 :. 1,878,944 

Calves,   1881 48498 

Hogs,  1880 .7,059,365 

Sheep,  1883 749,734 

Horses,  1873... 20,289 

CATTLE. 

THE  BANNEB  TEAS. 

The  vast  and  unprecedented  receipts  of 
cattle  for  the  year  show  that  the  last  was  a 
busy  one  in  this  branch  of  the  live  stock 
trade.  The  simple  figures,  showing  an  ag- 
gregate of  nearly  1,900,000  head  of  cattle, 
tell  a  wonderful  story,  but  figures  have  such 
a  hard,  matter-of-fact  way  of  expression 
that  we  can  seldom  realize  what  they  mean 
from  the  surface;  we  must  study  back  of 
them.  You  see  figures  representing  nearly 
1,900,000  cattle,  and  are  not  particularly 
struck  with  their  significance,  because  in 
this  we  deal  so  extensively  with  huge 
figures  tnat  we  cannot  appreciate  the  value 
of  ficrures  standing  for  a  few  millions  only. 
Familiarity  breeds  something  of  contempt 
for  large  figures,  but  if  we  stop  to  think 
what  a  herd  the  last  year's  receipts  of  cattle 
would  make  altogether;  how  far  they  would 
reach  if  placed  in  single  file ;  how  many  men 
and  millions  of  money  were  required  to  han- 
dle them,  then  we  get  some  idea  of  what  the 
figures  represent. 

The  year  1882  was  a  remarkable  one  in  the 
matter  of  heavy  receipts,  but  it  was  eclipsed 
inevery  respect  by  its  successor.  Last  year 
stands  as  the  banner  year,  and  also  records 
the  banner  days,  weeks,  and  months. 

HIGH  AND  LOW  PBICES. 

The  highest  prices  for  the  year  occurred  in 
March  and  December.  The  lowest  wore  re- 
corded in  June  and  July.  Early  in  the  year 
there  was  considerable  excitement  in  the 
trade,  and  it  looked  for  a  time  in  March  as  if 
people  expected  a  cattle  famine. 

The  Advanced  rates  brought  unprecedented 
receipts  of  good  cattle,  and  in  fact  all  Kinds 
of  cattle,  and  the  boom  was  followed  by  a 
serious  reaction.  Country  shippers  went 
wild  in  February,  March,  and  April,  and  made 
contracts  at  current  prices  for  June  delivery, 
which  entailed  the  heaviest  general  losses 
that  were  ever  known.  Vast  numbers  of 
cattle  sold  for  $2  per  hundred  less  than  they 
cost  in  the  country.  Instead  of  fat  cattle  be- 
ing scarce  in  the  summer  months  they  were 
more  than  usually  abundant,  and  the  calcu- 
lations of  a  great  many  went  away  on  that 
account 

The  general  demand  for  cattle  was  strong- 
throughout,  and  the  most  wonderful  thing  in 
connection  with  the  very  neavy  receipts  was 
the  manner  in  which  they  were  disposed  of. 
It  was  not  an  uncommon  thing  for  the  mar- 
ket to  be  strong  and  active  throughout  with 
45,000  head  per  week  on  sale. 

A   YEAB  OF   SURPRISES. 

Such  a  strong  general  demand  was  never 
before  known,  and  on  that  account  the  prog- 
nostications of  the  most  experienced  dealers 


•• 


CHICAGO;   FIRST  HALF  CENTUEY. 


133 


were  more  frequently  wrong1  than  otherwise. 
It  was  indeed  a  year  of  surprises,  especially 
as  there  were  many  who,  as  loner  ago  as  1881, 
confidently  expressed  the  opinion  thac  the 
maximum  of  Chicago's  cattle  trade  had  been 
reached. 

In  years  gone  by  the  supplies  of  fine,  thor- 
oughly mature  beeves  were  drawn  almost 
exclusively  from  nearby  sections,  where  a 
few  breeders  and  feeders  had  established  rep- 
utations for  prime  stock,  but  this  year 
there  have  been  hardly  any  sectional 
limits — Nebraska,  Kansas,  and  other 
Western  States  contributing  beeves  sa 
remarkable  in  quality  as  those  for 
which  our  best  Illinois"  breeders  are  re- 
nowned. It  is  not  very  long  since  it  was 
possible  for  cattle  men  of  experience  to 
reckon  just  how  many  prime  beeves  were 
fattening  for  market,  so  limited  was  the 
number  of  men  who  made  a  practice  of  put- 
ting a  thorough  fiuish  on  their  stock  before 
consigning  to  the  butcher.  But  that  day  is 
forever  past.  Then  it  was  thought  that  fine 
stock,  improved  methods,  and,  in  short, 
"book-farming,"  as  it  was  called,  was  only 
for  country  gentlemen  who  raised  stock  and 
cultivated  farms  because  they  fancied  it,  and 
had  no  other  way  in  which  they  preferred  to 
spend  their  surplus.  But  now  it  is  being  very 
generally  understood  that  the  poorer  the 
man  the  more  he  is  in  need  of  using  only  the 
best  methods;  that  none  but  the  wealthy  can 
afford  the  questionable  luxury  of  scrub  stock. 

CHICAGO  FAT   STOCK    SHOW. 

Never  was  there  a  year  when  there  was  so 
much  activity  in  the  fine-stock  markets  as 
during  the  past  The  great  Chicago  Fat 
Stock  Show  that  has  now  been  held  in  the 
Exposition  Building  for  six  years  has  done 
much  to  incite  breeders  and  feeders  to  better 
methods.  Even  yet,  however,  the  common 
cattle  are  those  that  are  rough  and  unfin- 
ished, but  at  the  present  rate  of  improve- 
ment it  is  evident  that  it  cannot  be  very  long 
before  the  cattle  that  are  now  called  extra 
will  be  more  common  than  those  that  are  so 
called  now. 

Never  was  the  canning  and  dressed-beef 
trade  so  strong  and  reliable.  Cows  and 
mixed  stock  have  sold  well  at  all  times,  ex- 
cept when  in  competition  with  Texans. 

Receipts  of  Texas  cattle  were  about  100,- 
000  head  less  than  in  1882, which  fact  makes 
all  the  more  remarkable  the  enormous  gen- 
eral gain  in  receipts.  Bange  cattle  were  two 
months  later  than  usual  in  coming  to  market. 
In  the  Southwest  the  drought  was  the  cause, 
and  in  the  Northwest  the  unprecedented 
rainfall  made  grass  so  rank  that  catt  le  did 
not  fat  solidly.  Thus  it  is  shown  that  the 
ranchmen  must  not  have  either  too  much  or 
too  little  water.  The  high  prices  of  the  pre- 
ceding year  drained  the  herds  more  closely 
than  usual,  and  ranchmen  were  not  willing 
to  part  with  their  verv  young  stock  at  the 
prices.  Indeed,  about  80,000  head  of  young 
stock  cattle  were  sent  from  "the  States" 
to  Wyoming,  Nebraska,  Colorado, 
and  Montana.  This  is  something 
previously  unknown.  The  result  of  the  ex- 
periment "  is  awaited  with  much  interest. 
Banchmen  are  rather  confident  as  to  the 
prospects  for  next  year,  and  many  thousand 
beeves  that  were  ready  to  come  this  year, 
had  prices  been  satisfactory,  are  being  carried 
over  for  the  spring  market. 

DISTILLEKY   CATTLE. 

A  large  business  was  done  in  distillery  cat- 
tle, but  the  trade  was  more  concentrated: 
that  is,  the  enormous  profits  of  1882  induced 


the  heavy  cattle  feeders  to  go  into  the  trade 
so  extensively  that  the  room  for  placing  cat- 
tle in  distilleries  was  soon  exhausted  at  ad- 
vanced rates,  and  the  small  fry  were  rather 
crowded  out. 

Distillery  cattle  realized  handsome  profits, 
selling  at  $4. 50(3)6. 50,  the  bulk  going  at  $5@ 
6:  but  the  same  tind  of  cattle  sold  in  1882  at 
$5@8. 90,  and  made  much  more  for  the  f eed- 
ers.  It  is  only  within  a  year  or  two  that  it 
has  been  considered  that  slop-fed  cattle  of 
like  weight  and  quality  dress  as  much  beef  as 
corn-fed  stock.  Distillery  bulls  sold  at 
$3.50@5.40,  against  $-t.50@6  in  1882. 

The  trade  in  Eastern  dairy  calves  was  very 
light,  but  during  the  year  a  goodly  number 
sold  at  about  $10  to  $18  per  head  to  goto 
Western  feeders.  Several  thousand  went  be- 
yond the  Missouri  to  ranchmen. 

BANGE  OF  PBICES. 

The  extreme  range  of  prices  for  shipping 
cattle  during  the  past  twelve  months  are 
given  below,  with  current  quotations  for 
1879,  1880,  1881.  and  1882: 

Steers  av.  Steers  av.  Steers  av. 
1,500  to2,200  l,350tol,500  l,200tol,350 
$4.80(36.10  $4.55(36.00 
5.00(36.25  4.70(36.00 
5.35(37.05  5.15(37.00 
5.80(36.90  5.50(36.75 
5.75(36.65  5.45@6.50 
5.40(36.30  5.10(36.30 
5.25(36.35  4.65(36.25 
5.00@6.40  4.25@6.20 
5.15(36.50  4.10(36.15 
5.10(37.00  4.35(37.00 
5.15(36.55  4.25(36.30 
5.35@7.12  4.55(36.75 
4.80(37.12  4.10(37.00 
4.70(39.00  4.25(39.00 
4.40(37.25  3.80(37.00 
4.30(36.00  3.50(35.50 
3.90(35.50  3.20@5.00 

DISTILLERY  CATTLE,     STOCKEBS,    AND   FEEDEBS. 

The  following  will  be  found  t&e  range  of 
prices  on  distillery  cattle,  stockers,  and  feed- 
ers for  the  past  twelve  months: 

Monti 

Jan.. 

Feb. . 

Marcl 

April. 

May. 

June 

July. 

Aug  . 

Sept. 

Oct., 

Nov . 

Dec 

Distillery  cattle  ranged  d~iiriiag  1883. .  .4.50(36.50 

Distillery  cattle  ranged  during  1SS2. .  .5.00(38.90 

Distillery  bulls  ranced  during  1883.  ...3.50(35.40 

Distillery  bulls  ranged  during  1882. .  .4.50(36.00 

TEXANS  AKD  FAB-WEST  CATTLE. 

The  table  given  below  shows  the  range  of 
prices  for  the  past  season  on  grass  Texans, 
wintered  Texans.  and  Western  natives: 

Grass  Tex-       Witntered        Far- West 


Jan  

.$5.35(36.50 

Feb.... 

.   5.90(37.00 

March  . 

.  .   5.90@7.30 

April  .  . 

.    6.10@7.10 

May... 

.   5.90(36.75 

June  .  . 

5.75(36,30 

July.  .  . 

.    5.55(36.40 

Aug.  .  .  . 

..   5.75@6.55 

Sept. 

.   5.90(36.50 

Oct.... 

6.10@7.35 

Nov.... 

.   6.20@7.35 

Dec  ... 

6.20@8.25 

1883.. 

5.35@8.25 

1882.. 

5.40@9.30 

1881.. 

5.30(38.00 

1880.. 

5.00(37.00 

1879.. 

.   4.50(36.00 

a,     Dis.  Cattle. 
..  $5.20(35.75 
..    4.70(35.60 
..     5.25@6.50 
.     5.25(36.20 
.     4.50@6.40 
.    4.75@6.10 
.     5.30(36.30 
.     5.50(36.10 
.     5.40(36.15 

Stockers. 
$2.90(34.15 
3.10(34.30 
3.10@4.75 
3.25@4.80 
3.00(34.90 
2.90(34.60 
3.00(34.30 
2.60@4.00 
2.70(34.05 
2.50(33.90 

Feeders. 
$3.50(34.80 
3.75(35.10 
4.20(35.70 
4.25(35.65 
4.40(35.80 
4.00(35.30 
3.85(34.90 
3.90@4.75 
3.85(34.60 
4.45@4.65 

2.20@3.75 

3.40(34.50 

2.50(34.30 

3.80(34.75 

Month. 
May  
June  
July  
Aug  
Sept  
Oct  
Nov  
Dec.  ... 

ans. 
$4.20(Si().00 
3.50@5.50 
3.40@5.50 
3.00@5.15 
3.50@4.75 
3.25@4.55 
3.35@4.75 
4.00(35.10 

Texans. 

$3.75(35.25 
3.35(35.20 

3.40(34.75 
3.35@5.00 
3.50(34.65 
4.00(34.75 

natives. 

$4.'56@4.'65 
3.60@5.70 
3.90@5.65 
3.65@6.00 
3.85@6.25 
4.80(35.10 

The  table  following  gives  comparative  fig. 


134 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


Years 
1883. 
1882. 
1881. 
1880... 


ures  for  four  years  past — extreme  range  of 
prices : 

Grass  Tex-         Wintered         Far- West 
ans.  Texans.  natives. 

$3.00@6.00    $3  35@5.2o    $3.60@6.2o 

;.SO  3.40@5.50  3.7> 
•_'.•-•:. -'.VOO  2.90@4.65  o.'_T)^5.  U) 
1.75@3.75  2.50@3.75  2.70@4.50 
Below  will  be  found  receipts  of  grass  Tex- 
ans and  far- West  cattle  for  the  past  four 
years: 

Grass  Far-west 

Year  Texans.  cattle. 

1883  256,340  176,680 

1882     .  346,300  220,700 

1881 143,380  190,500 

1880        88,000  109,500 

Prices  for  range  cattle  were  higher  than  in 
1881,  but  lower  than  in  1882.  It  was  a  no- 
table fact  that  through  grass  Texans  sold  as 
high  or  higher  than  wintered  and  double- 
wintered  Texans  from  the  Northwest  This, 
together  with  wire  fences  and  railway  facili- 
ties, will  tend  to  curtail  the  annual  drive  of 
young  Texans  to  the  North  to  be  wintered. 

COMPAKATITE   RECEIPTS    AND   SHIPMENTS. 

The   receipts    and   shipments    of  cattle  at 
Chicago  during  the  past  ten  years  have  been 
as  follows: 
Tear.  Received  No.  Shipped  No. 

1874 843,966          622,929 

1875 920,843          696,534 

1876    .  1,096,745          797,724 

1877...  1,033.151          703,402 

1878...  1,083,068          699,108 

1879  ....   1-215732          726,903 

1880  1,382,477  886,614 

1881...  1,498,550  938,712 

1882 1,582,472  920,453 

1883 1,878,944  966,758 

It  will  be  seen  that  from  1877  there  has 
been  a  steady  and  marked  increase  In  the 
volume  of  receipts.  The  arrivals  for  1883 
were  double  the  receipts  of  1875. 

DRESSED  BEEF. 

PBEPABING    MEAT    FOB  EASTEBW   BKSTAUBANTS. 

The  most  remarkable  growth  in  the  cattle 
trade  has  been  the  advancement  of  the 
dressed  beef  business.  Some  idea  of  the 
growth  and  magnitude  of  the  canninsr  and 
dressed  beef  business  may  be  obtained  from 
the  fact  that  fully  half  of  the  total  receipts  of 
cattle  for  the  year  went  into  cans  and  re- 
frigerator cars  at  Chicago  to  be  distributed 
to  the  consumers  of  the  East. 

The  following  shows  the  principle  purchases 
of  that  kind  of  stock: 

Swift  Bros.  <fe  Co .~ 331,550 

G.  H. .Hammond*  Co 140,000 

Libby.  McNeill  &  Libby 113,987 

Armour  A  Co 253,000 

Fairbank  Canning  Co 120,000 

Total ,  , 958,537 

The  increase  in  the  number  of  cattle 
slaughtered  here  for  that  purpose  was  about 
300,000  head,  or  just  about  the  amount  of 
the  gain  in  receipts  of  cattle.  The  dressed 
beef  business  is  expanding  with  remarkable 
rapidity,  and  much  greater  strides  have  been 
made  in  this  trade  than  are  generally  real- 
ized. 

FOB  EASTEBN   CITIES. 

A  new  feature,  and  a  very  important  one, 
has  been  developed  during  the  year.  In 
former  years  it  has  been  the  custom  for  the 
most  fastidious  restaurants  and  hotels  in 
New  York.  Boston,  and  other  cities  to  have 
their  cattle  bought  here,  shipped  East  on 
foot,  and  slaughtered,  but  this  year  the  bulk 


of  the  finest  cattle  that  have  come  to  market 
have  been  slaughtered  here  and  forwarded  in 
refrigerator  cars  to  the  aristocratic  con- 
sumers of  Eastern  cities.  Of  course  the  meat 
reaches  its  destination  in  vastly  better  con- 
dition than  if  sent  on  the  hoof. 

When  the  dressed  beef  men  invaded  New 
York  City  witti  their,  trains  of  dressed  beef 
every  day  there  was  a  good  deal  of  commo- 
tion in  the  live-stock  trade.  The  beef  on 
hand  in  the  refrigerators  often  interfered 
with  the  sale  of  live  stock  when  supplies 
were  liberal,  arid  as  the  dressed  beef  could 
be  sold  at  a  profit  for  considerable  less  than 
the  cattle  shipped  on  the  hoof,  the  former 
had  decidedly  the  upper  hand  in  the  fight 

The  railroads  endeavored  to  make  consid- 
erable advances  in  freight  charges  TM  the 
East  on  dressed  beef,  and  there  was  quite  a 
lively  wrangle  for  a  time,  but  the  shippers 
had  to  submit  to  a  little  advance.  How- 
ever, they  can  afford  it,  because 
they  ship  thirty-three  carcasses  in  a  car, 
while  only  about  eighteen  are  shipped 
in  live  stock  cars.  Then,  too,  the  railroads 
object  to  the  refrigerator  cars  because  they 
have  to  be  hauled  back  empty.  At  the  same 
time  the  railroads  realize  that  it  is  useless  to 
ignore  the  demands  of  this  growing  interest. 

DAILY  TBATNS   OF  DBESSBD  BKEF. 

Regular  trains  are  sent  to  the  seaboard 
and  intermediate  points  laden  with  Cuicago 
dressed  beef  every  day.  Shipments  have 
been  made  to  considerable  extent  to  the 
South,  and  a  couple  of  car-loads  of  dressed 
beef  per  week  were  sent  to  St.  Paul  and  Min- 
neapolis this  summer.  This  seems  a  little 
like  carrying  coals  to  Newcastle,  but  was 
profitable. 

A  year  ago  the  talk  about  starting  dressed 
beef  establishments  beyond  the  Mississippi 
was  speculation  and  was  regarded  as  a  very 
long  shadow  of  the  coming  event,  but  the 
talk  nas  taken  tangible  shape,  and  meat 
preserving  institutions  on  the  plains  are  a 
reality.  The  first  venture  was  the  Conti- 
nental Meat  Company  at  Victoria,  Texas.  A 
company  has  been  formed  at  Dallas,  one  at 
San  Antonio,  and  the  Fort  Worth  (Texas) 
Meat  Company  has  its  buildings  and  ma- 
chinery thoroughly  equipped  for  dressing  and 
shipping  meat  An  establishment  has  been 
located  at  Cheyenne,  Wyoming,  and  it  may 
truly  be  said  that  a  great  resolution  is  tak- 
ing place  in  the  manner  of  transporting 
stock  from  the  producer  to  the  consumer. 

During  the  year  just  closed  there  were 
fully  twice  the  amount  of  cattle  slaughtered 
here  for  the  dressed  beef  trade  that  were 
used  in  the  preceding  year.  This  shows  how 
rapid  has  been  the  growth. 

SUCCESS  ASSURED. 

That  the  dressed  meat  business  is  growing 
in  popularity  and  has  come  to  stay,  is  evi- 
denced by  the  enormous  investments  that 
are  being  made  by  shrewd  business  men. 
There  can  be  no  possible  doubt  as  to  the 
feasibility  of  the  scheme,  as  operated 
here,  but  the  success  on  the 
plains  will  hardly  be  so  swift  and 
sure  as  it  has  been  here,  though  there  is  no 
good  reason  why  the  same  care  and  attention 
to  details  may  not  be  given  to  the  business 
on  the  frontier  that  obtains  here.  At  any 
rate  there  seems  to  be  no  lack  of  men  who 
are  willing  to  try  their  luck  in  the  business 
out  West. 

The  refrigerator  men  are  by  no  means  con- 
fining their  attention  to  beef,  but  are  hand- 
ling increasing  numbers  of  sheep.  Some  of 
the  most  extensive  operators  in  the  trade 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUBY. 


135 


have  been  dressing  some  of  the  best  sheep 
that  hare  come  to  market,  and  up  to  the 
present  time  the  demand  for  good  sheep  for 
that  purpose  has  only  been  limited  by  the 
supply.  There  has  been  no  lack  in  quantity 
of  sheep,  but  the  average  quality  of  the  of- 
ferings has  been  indeed  miserable. 

COMPETITION  WITH  LIVE. 

When  toe  dressed  meat  business  first  came 
into  notice  it  was  met  with  such  general 
favor  and  received  such  a  boom  that  it  was 
thought  the  days  of  shipping  ]ive  stock  were 
surely  numbered,  but  those  who  thought 
such  to  be  the  case  evidently  did  not  realize 
the  magnitude  and  importance  of  the  live 
stock  shipping  trade.  It  is  certainly  a  note- 
worthy fact  that  while  the  growth  of  the 
dressed  beef  interest  has  been  great,  it  has 
not  been  so  much  at  the  expense 
of  the  live  stock  business  as  many 
suppose.  The  increase  of  the  refrig- 
erator car  business  during  the  year  is 
just  about  equal  to  the  increase  in  the  total 
receipts  of  cattle,  which  shows  that  what  has 
been  the  gain  of  one  has  not  necessarily  been 
the  loss  of  the  other.  At  the  same  time  the 
new  way  is  steadily  encroaching  upon  the 
ground  of  the  old,  and  despite  the  vast 
amount  of  capital  arrayed  against  it,  there 
must  be  steady,  strong  growth  in  the  dressed 
meat  trade.  The  live  stock  shippers  have  not 
gone  out  of  the  business  during  the  past  year, 
and  there  is  no  prospect  that  they  contem- 
plate any  such  move  durinsr  the  year  to  come, 
or  the  year  after,  but  it  is  patent  to  all  that 
the  refrigerator  business  must  steadily  grow 
in  favor. 

THE  HOG  MARKET. 

CONDITION  OF   TBADE. 

The  hog  trade  of  the  year  1883  was  pe- 
culiar in  many  respects.  The  receipts  were 
larger  in  volume  than  many  anticipated,  and 
the  excellent  quality  of  the  offerings  was  a 
matter  of  surprise  to  alL  During  the  early 
part  of  the  year  the  receipts  fell  far  behind 
the  corresponding  periods  of  the  preceding 
year,  but  on  the  last  half  the  tide  turned, 
and  the  increase  was  so  strong  that  about 
two  more  weeks  would  have  made  good  the 
deficiency.  On  the  whole  the  shortage  was 
remarkably  small. 

During  the  middle  months  of  the  year  the 
weight  of  the  hogs  ran  from  ten  to  twenty- 
five  pounds  heavier  than  last  year,  and  it  was 
the  first  year  in  the  history  of  the 
trade  that  thin,  immature  pigs  outsold 
prime  300-pound  porkers.  What  in  ordi- 
nary times  axe  called  "skips"  in  many 
cases  sold  higher  than  prime  mixed  hogs. 
There  was  a  raging  demand  for  light  meats, 
principally  on  foreign  account,  and  the  un- 
commonly large  proportion  of  prime  heavy 
hogs  appeared  to  be  most  untimely.  It  is 
always  more  or  less  demoralizing  to  put  a 
premium  on  half-done  work,  and  largely 
owing  to  the  discrimination  in  favor  of  unfed 
hogs,  the  average  weight  in  November  de- 
clined and  was  one  pound  less  than  the  cor- 
responding month  in  1882.  Ab  >ut  that  time, 
however,  the  demand  for  light  meats  fell  off, 
and  prime  hogs,  when  they  were  beginning1 


to  get  scarce,  took  their  proper  relative  posi- 
tion at  the 

HEAD   OF  THB  MBT 

on  the  range  of  value*  Under  light  receipts 
and  strong  demand  prices  in  the  early  spring 
were  unreasonably  high,  but  from  March, 
which  was  the  highest  month,  there  was  a 
steady  downward  movement  till  the  1st  of 
November,  since  when  the  tendency  has  been 
upward. 

Many  hogs  were  sold  here  in  November 
which  could  have  been  sold  in  the  country 
six  months  before  for  $2  per  100  Ibs.  more. 
All  the  time  the  reports  were  coming  from 
the  country  that  the  supplies  were  getting 
short,  but  receipts  were  increasing  here  and 
the  quality  of  the  stock  indicated  anything 
but  the  last  scrapings  of  a  short  crop. 

The  advance  in  prices  during  the  last  two 
months  was  rattier  unusual  and  unlocked 
for,  as  the  first  two  months  of  the  packing 
season  are  generally  the  lowest  Packers 
had  to  grin  and  bear  it,  however.  They  had 
their  choice  of  paying  the  prices  or  allowing 
their  contracts  to  go  unfilled.  For  a  time 
many  of  them  stubbornly  held  off  on  the 
ground  that  prices  were  too  high;  but  it  was 
not  very  long,  and  for  a  month  after  the 
middle  of  November  every  packer  was  in  the 
trade. 

There  has  probably  never  been  a  year  when 
the  operators  were  so  completely  non- 
plussed, when  they  were  so  entirely  in  the 
dark  as  to  the  best  policy  to  pursue.  It  is 
said  that  some  of  them  always  know  how 
things  are  going,  but  this  year  the  best  of  the 
packers  did  not  seem  able  to  tell  which  way 
the  feline  would  bound. 

BANGE  OP  PBICBS. 

The  extreme  range  of  prices  for  hogs  dur- 
ing the  past  twelve  months  is  given  below, 
with  current  quotations  for  1879,  1880, 
1881.  and  1882: 

Heavy  pack- 
ing and 

shipping. 
$6.05(37.10 

6.60@7.65 

6.95@8.15 

7.25@8.10 

7.00@7.85 

6.OO@7.25 

4.90@6.25 

4.90@5.85 

4.70@5.50 

4.40@5.30 

4.40@5.50 

4.75@6.20 

4.40<§8.15 

6.00@9.35 

4.75@7.50 

4.30(<36.90 


Rough 

Months,     packing. 

Jan... 

$5.40@6.45 

Feb... 

5.90@7.00 

March. 

6.15@7.65 

April 

6.85@7.70 

May. 

6.60@7.50 

June 

5.60@6.90 

July. 

4.85@5.90 

Aug. 

4.35@5.50 

Sept. 

4.25@5.05 

Oct.. 

3.90@4.90 

Nov... 

3.90@5.00 

Dec  .. 

4.30@5.60 

1883.. 

3.90@7.70 

1882.. 

5.40@8.65 

1881.. 

4.30@6.95 

1880.  . 

4.00@5.15 

1879.. 

2.60@4.20 

2.80@4.45 


Light  bacon 
$5.50@6.55 
5.90@7.15 
6.10O7.75 
6.90@7.75 
6.70@7.60 
5.70O7.0O 
5.0O@6.55 
5.10@6.50 
4.60@6.0O 
4.35@5.40 
4.00@5.00 
4.25@5.60 
4.00@7.75 
5.30@8.75 
4.40@7.00 
4.10(95.30 
2.60@4,05 


BECEIPTS  AND  SHIPMENTS    COMPABED. 

The  receipts  and  shipments  of  hogs  at  Chi- 
cago during  the  past  ten  years  were  as 
follows: 

Year.  Received,  No.    Shipped,  No. 

1874 4,258,370  2,330,361 

1875 3,912,110  1,582,643 

1876 4,190,006  1,131,635 

1877. 4.025,970  951,221 

1878 6,339,654  1,266.906 

1879. i...    6,448,330  1,692,361 

1880 7,059,355  1,364,990 

1881 6,474,844  1,289,679 

1882 5,817,504  1,746,555 

1883 5,640,625  1,319,192 

There  has  been  a  general  growth  in  vol- 
ume of  receipts  from  the  opening  of  the 
yards,  but  1880  was  the  heaviest  year  on 
record,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  current  re- 
ceipts are  smaller  than  1878.  There  is  one 


136 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


point  in  which  the  arrivals  of  1882  exceeded 
all  others,  however,  and  that  was  early  ma- 
turity and  quality. 

SHEEP. 

MUTTON  EATING   ON  THE  INCREASE. 

That  mutton  eating  is  on  the  increase  is  no 
longer  a  matter  of  doubt  There  is  an  in- 
creasing demand  for  good  mutton,  and  it  is 
also  becoming  easier  for  the  lover  of  "leg  o' 
mutton"  and  -'lamb  chops"  to  have  his  taste 
gratified.  The  time  was,  and  not  very  long 
ago,  when  if  a  person  could  find  mutton  on 
the  bill  of  fare  in  the  average  restaurant  he 
would  hardly  be  able  to  tell  that  he  was  not 
trying  to  masticate  a  chunk  of  succulent  sole 
leather,  but  for  the  said  bill  of  fare  which 
described  it  as  mutton. 

Receipts  of  sheep  at  Chicago  were  the 
heaviest  on  record,  and  on  the  whole  it  was 
the  most  satisfactory  year's  business  that  has 
been  done  in  the  sheep  market 

Floods  of  Texas  and  Western  stock  of  in- 
ferior quality  kept  aver/  wide  range  between 
good  and  common  sheep,  but  the  average 
quality  of  the  receipts  was  not  to  be  com- 
plained of  when  all  things  were  taken  into 
account  It  is  only  lately  that  the  shep- 
herds of  the  West  have  deemed  it  necessary 
to  pay  any  attention  to  anything  but  wool, 
and  they  have  received  but  little  encouraga- 
ment  to  fit  their  sheep  for  the  butcher. 

The  refusal  of  most  of  the  Western  roads  to 
supply  double-deck  cars  has  been  one  of  the 
greatest  drawbacks  to  the  trade.  Sheep  can- 
not be  shipped  from  the  West  in  single-decks, 
and  make  money,  because  the  shipper  is  com- 
pelled to  pay  for  a  whole  load,  while  in  reality 
he  only  gets  in  enough  weight  for  half  a 
load. 

The  general  demand  for  sheep  has  greatly 
improved  since  the  last  review,  and 

SHEEP-BAISERS  FEEL  ENCOUBAGED. 

The  interest  which  the  dressed  meat  folks 
are  taking  in  the  trade  is  having  a  good,  ef- 
fect, and  will  eventually  develop  into  some- 
thing greatly  to  the  advantage  of 
mutton  raisers.  The  dressed  mutton 
operators  have  not  been  able  to  do  much  be- 
cause the  supplies  have  been  insufficient,  in 
quality  if  not  in  quantity.  But  the  trade  is 
growing  and  there  is  no  good  reason  why  it 
should  not  continue  to  grow. 

Prices  for  sheep  were"  not  very  extreme, 
except  in  the  cass  of  inferior  grades,  which 
at  times  glutted  the  market,  f.nd  there  were 
no  very  high  prices  paid  for  the  best  of  the 
offerings.  At  the  same  time  the  general 
prices  averaged  well  and  good  sheep  com- 
manded satisfactory  figures. 

The  export  demand  was  good  and  the  con- 
dition of  foreign  markets  would  have  justi- 
fied a  much  heavier  trade  had  sheep  of  good 
quality  been  forthcoming  in  greater  nuin- 
bera 

Fewer  sheep  from  the  far  West  were  sent 
to  market  than  in  the  previous  year,  but 
there  was  continually  an  oversupply  of  low 
arade  native  sheep. 

EXTREME   RANGE  OF  PRICES. 

The  extreme  range  of  prices  for  sheep  dur- 


ing the  past  twelve  months  are  given  below 

with  comparisons: 

Months.      Native?.  Texan*.  Westerns 

Jan $2.00@5.87  $2.25@3.75  $3  50@4.75 

Feb 2.Ot)@6.50  2.4O@3.SO  3.60@5.15 

March...    2.25@7.75  2.75@4.40  4.10@6.OO 

April 3.75@7.50  3.OO@3.75  4.35@6.50 

May 3.15@0.50  3.20(<?4.50  4.25&S  90 

June....    1.90@6.00  2.OO@3.80  3.25@5  50 

July 2.2r>@5.)0  1.70@3,75  3.20@5.25 

Aug 2.25<a)5.25  2.25@3.70  3.70@4.40 

Sept 2.25@5  10  2.20@3.60  2.55@4.30 

Oct 1.75@4.50        2.00@3.25 

Nov 1.75@4.65         2.10(^3.70 

Dec 1.75@6.00        2.65@4.00 

1883....    1.75@7.75  1.7O@4.50  2.00<«;6.50 

1882....    1.75(?,8.00  2.  OOcft  6. 30  2.  GO®  7. 25 

1881....    2.25@6.50  1.90ts4.75  2.75@5.50 

THE  RECEIPTS  AND  SHIPMENTS  OF  SHEEP 

at  Chicago  during  the    past  ten  years  were 

as  follows: 

Year.  No.  received.  No.  shipp'd 

1874 333.655  180,555 

1875 418,948  243,604 

1876 364,095  195,925 

1877 310,240  155,354 

1878 310,420  156.727 

1879 325,119  159,266 

1880 335,810  156,510 

1881 493,624  253,938 

1882.. 628,769  314,200 

1883 749,734  372,761 

Chicago  was  never  a  great  sheep  market 
previous  to  1882,  but  the  increased  volume 
of  that  year  and  the  magnificent  gain  of 
18S3  places  Chicago  in  a  position  to  take 
first  place  as  a  market  for  sheep,  as  she  al- 
ready has  for  all  other  kinds  of  food  animala 


LUMBER,  COAL,  AND  SALT. 

LUMBER,   SHINGLES  AND  LATH. 

THE  EXTENT  OF  THIS  BRANCH 

of  industry  and  commerce,  for  which  Chicaero 
is  the  chief  distributing  center.may  be  inferred 
from  the  fact  that  the  capital  employed  in 
mills,  pine  lands,  sales  yards,  and  vessels 
owned  and  exclusively  employed  in  the  car- 
rying business  aggregates  nearly  or  quite 
$100,000,000.  The  territory  containing  this 
vast  volume  of  wealth  is  generally  known  as 
the  Northwestern  Lumber  District,  whose 
limits  extend  as  far  east  as  Michigan,  and 
west  and  northwest  to  the  Mississippi  and  its 
tributaries.  Like  nearly  all  other  leading 
interests  the  current  year's  operations  have 
been  less  satisfactory  to  both  manufacturers 
and  distributors  than  those  of  the  one  im- 
mediately preceding.  The  predictions  of 
many  well-informed  dealers  and  manufact- 
urers, that  the  arrivals  would  show  a 
material  excess  on  those  of  1882,  were  not 
realized.  On  the  reverse,  the  receipts  as  re- 
turned by  vessels  and  *  railroads 
show  a  reduction  of  276,400,000 
feet  The  decrease  was  the  more 
surprising  as  it  was  supposed 
that  the  profitable  business  in  18S2  would 
stimulate  manufacturers  to  increase  their 
production.  The  weather  was  also  favorable 
for  work  in  the  woods,  and  an  abundance  of 
snow  greatly  facilitated  loiriring  operations. 
In  addition, the  stocks  piled  at  the  mills  were 
much  heavier  than  at  the  opening  of  1882. 
It  soon  became  apparent,  however,  that 
there  was  less  desire  to  force  the  production 
than  had  been  supposed  at  the  outset,  and 
in  March  the  efforts  to  curtail  the  cut,  with 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


137 


a  view  to  prevent  an  oversupply,  culminated 
in  the  formation  of 

THE  LUMBER    MANUFACTURERS'   ASSOCIATION, 

for  the  express  purpose  of  keeping  the  pro- 
duction of  the  mills  within  desired  limits. 
In  addition  to  preventing1  an  overstock  of 
lumber,  many  owners  of  large  tracts  of  pine 
lands  decided  it  more  profitable  to  keep  than 
to  cut  their  timber  at  current  prices  for 
stock.  The  season  was  also  a  month  later 
in  opening,  and  closed  early.  The  curtail- 
ment of  the  running-  time  at  the  mills,  in 
connection  with  the  efforts  of  the 
Lumber  Manufacturers'  Association  above 
noted,  reduced  the  output  in 
the  Northwestern  lumber  regions 
10  per  cent.  This  deficiency  was  fully  com- 
pensated for  by  an  extra  amount  of  lumber 
carried  over  from  the  previous  year.  Hence 
there  was  an  ample  supply  for  the  require- 
ments, which  in  many  locations  were  below 
the  estimates  made  at  the  opening  of  the 
year.  The  failure  of  the  demand  to  meet  the 
expectations  had  a  tendency  to  weaken  con- 
fidence, and  although  manufacturers  as  a 
rule  fully  comprehended  the  situation,  and  b> 
a  judicious  management  in  sending 
stocks  forward  as  the  market  showed 
an  ability  to  absorb  it,  there 
was  scarcely  a  time  when  the  market 
was  glutted."  The  sluggish  character  of  the 
yard  trade  during  most  of  the  season  induced 
the  yard  dealers  to  persistently 

DEMAND  CONCESSIONS  ON   CARGOES. 

In  this  they  were  partly  successful,  their 
efforts  being  seconded  by  a  number  of  large 
failures  in  the  trade  in  Michigan  and  other 
sections  of  the  country.  The  depression  in 
other  lines  of  business  also  contributed  to 
render  dealers  conservative.  Piece  stuff 
opened  in  April  at  $10  to  $10.50  per  M, 
against  $12.50  to  $13  the  corresponding 
month  in  1882.  In  May  a  decline  of  50c 
was  recorded,  and  pieces  settled  to  $9,50  and 
$10.50.  During  June.  July,  and  August 
they  ranged  at  19  to  $10. 

The  reduction  on  common  and  medium 
grades  of  boards  and  strips  was  nearly  as 
severe.  At  the  close  of  the  cargo  season  it 
was  generally  • -encoded  very  little  money  had 
been  made,  and  Michigan  manufacturers,  as 
a  rule,  claimed  that  they  would  have  been 
richer  had  they  left  the'ir  timber  standing. 
The  Mississippi  districts,  while  rather  more 
fortunate,  have  little  cause  for  congratula- 
tion, and  the  same  may  be  said  of  other 
localities.  The  constant  denudation  of  the 
timber  lands  is  annually  removing  the  sup- 
ply of  logs  further  from  the  mills,  and  neces- 
sarily increasing  the  cost  of  logging. 
During  the  past  season  this  was  equal- 
ized by  lower  rates  of  wages,  and 
supplies,  hence  there  was  no  material  ad- 
vance in  the  expenses  of  manufacturing,  ex- 
cept in  the  enhanced  value  of  the  timber, 
which  is  steadily  appreciating  as  the  supply 
diminishes.  The  early  closing  of  the  mills, 
coupled  with  a  disposition  of  mill-owners  to 
restrict  supplies,  caused  about  25  per  cent  of 
last  winter's  log-  output  to  be  carried  over.  It 
is  also  conceded  that  the  volume  of  lumber 
now  piled  at  the  mills  is  equal  to  last  year. 
The  outlook  for  the  present  winter's  work  in 
the  woods  is  good,  but  there  is  a  disposition 
to  conservatism,  and  no  important  excess  in 
the  supply  of  lumber  for  next  year  is  antici- 
pated. Stocks  in  the  country  are  not  large, 
and  although  nothing  like  a  boom  is  looked 
for.  the  best  informed  dealers  regard  the 
situation  as  healthy. 

THE  BANGE  OF  PRICES   FOR   CARGOES 

Of  standard  green   piece    stuff,    boards  and 


strips,  shingles  and  lath  at  the  exchange 
docks  during  the  navigation  season  of  1883, 
which  opened  April  2  and  closed  about  Dec. 
8,  and  for  corresponding  period  in  1882,  were 
as  follows: 

PIECE    STUFF. 

1883.  1882. 

April $10.00  to  10.50  $12.50  to  13.00 

May 9.50to  10.50  11. 00  to  12.00 

June 9.00  to  10.00  10. 75  to  11. 50 

July 9.00  to  10.00  10  50  to  11.25 

August 900to  10.00  ll.OOto  11.75 

September 9-OOto    9.75  10. 75  to  11. 50 

October 9.00  to    9.75  10.OO  to  11.25 

November 9.00  to  10.00  10.50  to  11. 50 

December. 9. 75  to  10. 25  1 1. 00  to  1 1 .  5< ) 


BOARDS  AND  STRIPS. 


1883. 

April $ to  12.50 

May 12.00  to  22.00 

June ll.OOto  22.00 

July 11. 00  to  20.00 

August 10.50  to  20. 00 

September 10.50  to  20.00 

October 10.5O  to  16.00 

November 10.50  to  17.00 

December 11.50  to  17.50 


1882. 
$12.50  to  20.00 
11.50  to  22.0O 
11.25  to  2 1.00 
11/25  to  21.00 
12.50  to  22.00 
13.00  to  22.OO 
13.00  to  22.00 
12.25  to  22.0O 
12.50  to  22.50 


SHINGLES. 

. 1883. .  1882. 

Standard.  Extra  g'A."  Extra  "A." 

April..  .$2.t>0  to$2.(>5  $2.75  to  $2.80  $2.85  to  $2.95 

May...  .  2.50  to  2.65  2.55  to  2.80  2.75  to  2.95 

June....  2.25  to  2.55  2.40  to  2.85  2.60  to  2.95 

July...  .  2.25  to  2.40  2.40  to  2.80  2.50  to  2.95 

August  .  2.00  to  2.40  2.40  to  2.80  2.75  to  3.OO 

Sept...  .  2.00  to  2.'-'0  2.40  to  2.60  2.8o  to  3.00 

October  .  2.00  to  2.20  2.20  to  2.60  2  79  to  2.95 

Novem'r.  2.00  to  2.20  2.20  to  2.05  2.70  to  2.95 

Deo 2.15  to  2.25  2.30  to  2.80  2.80  to  3.00 

LATH. 

,                                       1883.  1882. 

April $ to  $2.25  None  received. 

May 2.10  to    2.25  $2.35to$2.4O 

June 1.75  to    2.25  2.30  to    2.40 

July 1.75  to    2.10  2.20  to    2.30 

August 1.50  to    2.10  2.00  to    2.25 

September 1.50  to    1.70  2.25 

October 1.50  to    1.75  2.25 

November 1.50  to    1.75  2.25 

December 1.65  to    1.80  2.25  to    2.30 

THE  YARD  BUSINESS. 

The  yard  trade  has  been  exceedingly  spas- 
modic, and  the  result  quite  different  from 
the  anticipations  indulged  in  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  year.  The  reported  stocks  in  the 
yards  Jan.  1,  1883,  aggregated  655,013,520 
feet,  against  500,416^842  feet  Jan.  1,  1882, 
snowing  an  excess  of  94,596,678  feet  As 
already  stated  the  stocks  piled  at  the  mills 
by  manufacturers  who  were  either  unwilling 
to  sell  or  unable  to  ship  ere  the  close  of  nav- 
igation were  larger  than  customary.  But 
the  previous  year's  business  had  been  profit- 
able, and  with  low  rates  of  freight  to  Mis- 
souri Eiver  and  other  Western  points,  buy- 
ers from  those  sections  were  willing-  to  take 
liberal  supplies,  and  the  first  half  of  Janu- 
ary witnessed  an  active  outward  movement 
at  well  supported  prices. 

The  free  movement  of  grain  and  live  stock 
to  market  and  the  strong  upward  movement 
in  prices  of  such  farm  productions  also  en- 
couraged yard  dealers.to  suppose  that  farm- 
ers would  be  disposed  to  make  liberal  pur- 
chases of  lumber  for  improvements.  It  soon 
became  apparent  that  these  hopes  were  not 
•well  founded,  and  after  the  early  demand 
was  filled,  there  was  a  decided  lull,  which 
was  more  marked  as  the  month  advanced, 
and  the  outlook  tor  other  branches  of  trade 
became  less  promising.  The  severity  of  the 
weather  likewise  proved  adverse  to  a  free 
distribution  and  the  close  of  January  and  the 
first  half  of  February  were  as  remarkable 
for  dullness  as  the  early  part  of 
the  former  month  had  been  for 
activity.  The  absence  of  buyers  increased 


138 


CHICAGO'S  FTB8T  HALF  CENTURY. 


the    desire    to  Mil,  and  thosa  who  had  heavy  YABD  PBICBS.  wirn  COMPARISONS. 

•tocks  bought  at  full  prices  were  The    following  shows    the    prices  at   the 

NOT  DISPOSED   TO   KKFUSI   AN  OFFEB,  7*?*  On  Jan'   ^  1883'  ftnd  f°r  thfi  8ame  tim6 

.   „  .  last  vear: 

providing  it  t>ossessed  the  semblance  or  fair-  1883.  1882. 

ness     The  pressure  to  realize  caused  consid-  First  and  second  clear  wide,  3-inch..  $49.00  $50.00 

erable  settlement  in  prices  of  coarse    dimen-  ^^  second  clear  ™Ae-   \and   4900  ^^ 

sion  stuff  and  boards  and  strips,  and  although  f^t  and  second  clear  t'wide"  i-inchi    47  .'oo  46.00 

there  were  spurts  of  activity,    and    at   times  First  and  second  ciear  -wide,  l1*  and 

signs  of  strength,  there  was  no    time    during  j^^^^^^^-"^-'^    gg  %$ 

the  year  when  the  situation  was    sufficiently     A  8alect-  lnon;* 36.o5  34.00 

strong  to  secure  ana  maintain  any    material     A  select.  2-inch 41.00  37.00 

advance  on  these  descriptions.     The  vote    of     Sse}ecMnc?-v,--"' h §2™  ™'!$ 

the  Exchange  at  the  close  of  November  to  in-  f/4ec!eL  and  select  foietli^-:::.  ""    ilSo 

crease     card     rates    50c@$l    per    M  on    a     2x4  B  select 23.00  23.00 

number  of  grades  was  not  fully  observed,  but     2x6  clear  and  select 34.00 

the    same    list   was  readopted  on  Dec.  29,  to  J'g&SSMfe:.::™.:::::    i!3o  §So 

remain  in  force  through  January.                          7  and  8-inch  select  base 29.00  29.00 

The    upper    grades,  being  less  plentv,  suf-  Thin  clear  and  select,  9  inch  ana  up.    25.00  25.00 

foi-ori     a    ^rkmnnT-Q-t-iirol-ir    Bmall     /WOine     Rnri  First  common  flooring,  D.  and  M....     3i.OO  37.00 

tered   a   comparatively    small    decline,  and     second  common  flooring 34.00  34.00 

some    are    nominallv  a  shade  higher  than  at     Third  common  flooring 36.00  25.00 

the  close  of  1882.     ft   is  generally  conceded     Fencing  flooring 17.00  18.00 

that  the  only  dealers  who  have  made  even  a  iSSn'^^:. ;;;;;:;;;;;;;;;;    gfj  S 

fair  interest  on  their  money  invested  during     second  common  sidmg 18.50  19.00 

the  year  were  those  who  cut  their  own  lum-    Third  common  siding 14.00  14.00 

Inn-      1-liu     <->i-Hino-i-«r  traWl  Hoal^T    ainirui.-  heincr        Fencing  Siding 9.50  10.50 

simply  being  Cjear  c^lUn?  £   &  M   ^  4  ^  tj.mcn.    23.50  23.50 

a  sort  of  commercial  philanthropist,  who  did  First  common  ceiling,  38, 4  or  6-inch   22.50  22.50 

a  large  business,  which  entailed  a  great  deal  Second  common  ceiling,  3s,  4  or  6- 

of  hard  work  and  risk,  for  the  benefit  of  the  T^0^"--  "  «n  ^YiinViLdorfrV^h    r^oo  is'™ 

mill  owners  and   country    customera     The  2^$ga?«d%.>*.".^  #.oo  #00 

year  closed,  however,  with  moderate  supplies     B  box,  13-inch  and  over 42.00  41.00 

in  the  interior,  and  prices  down  where  any     C  box,  13-inch  and  over 32.00 

further  depreciation  would  curtail  produc-  2*>& %%toCgi£™'X&l6i£ti     ll'.oo  39.00 

tion,  and  the  best  advised  and  most  judicious  B  stock,  12-inch,  12, 14,  and  16  feet.     37.00  35.00 

dealers    regard   the    situation    as  promising  C  stock,  12-inch.  12, 14,  and  itj  feet.     32.00  30.00 

more  profitable  results  during  the'incoming  g  »£S;  ^nch.  12, 14.  and  ibfeet.     20.00  19.00 

year.  C  stock,  10-inch,  13. 14.  and  16  feet.      25.00  25.00 

In  the  annual  review  of  the  lumber  trade  Common  fencing,  12  to  18  feet,            11.50 

fnr    1««9    TAforpnfA   -araa   Tn»H»  in  TTTP  T-MTPW  Common  ooards,  12,  14,  16,  and  18  ft    12.50  14.50 

b.  Common  boards.  10  »nd  20  ft,  12-in.    14.50  15.00 

OCEAN  to  the  tact  that  the  construction  of  common  4-inch  fencing,  12,  14,  and 

railroads   into   many    of    the    chief  lumber       16 feet •••;••••    16-00  16.00 

HiHtrir>ta  nf  the 'Mr>rth'Wa«t -BTH.B    Miano-incr     Hi«»  Timber,  joist,   and  Scantling,  2x4,  2x 

Listricts  ot  tUe  JN  orttiwest  was  changing    tJie       12_14  Jand  j  6  {eet 13  50  IBOO 

courseof  the  trade  by  causing  shipments    to  2x6,  2x8,  2x10, 12, 14,  and  16  feet....    12.50  15.50 

be  made  Timber,  4x4  to  8xS,  inclusive,  12,  14, 

DraBCT  FBOM  THI  MILLS  TO    CONSUMING  POINTS          lfi6  0^*0^0  •&&  IS  feet ifio 

in  the  West     This  branch  of  the  business  has  is  feef  2^4, 4x4  wlx8,  inclusiveV.:'.'.    14.50  16.00 

undergone  a  larger  development  during  the  2x4,  4x4,  and  small  timber.  10  and 

year  under  review,  and  has  been  a  factor  in       20  feet.. 15.00 

reducing  tbe  arrivals  here  and  at  other  lead-  cummfank     .  ""r?"::::.':::. ."":.':    lo.'oo  I2!oo 

ing  distributing  points,  and  its   influence    is     Common  pickets' 8.00  9.00 

likely  to  be  felt  in  a  still  greater  degree  each  Pickets,  flat,  rough,  good    ...... 

succeeding   year     But   tie   position  of  Chi-  !££ffig;12&*$SS   l!$  %$ 

cago  as  the  great  financial  and  trade  center     Shingles,  extra  A 3.00  3.20 

ot  the  country,  in  connection  with  the  large     Shingles,  standard 2.50 

investments  of  its  capitalists  piin  ne  forests     E.tffe cedar>  A I'lo  275 

sas?s  t^s  ss  5  ffissassa  •-^^•'^•^^m. 

ness  of  the  Northwest.     A  feature  of  the  cur- 

rent  year  s  yard  transactions,  and  one  which  j°°g 

promises  to  show  greater  expansion    in  the  taaf 

future  has  been  the  large  increase  in  the  re-  18|h'e '  bomp^ati       receipts  of  the  article 

ceipts  here  ot  Southern  yellow  pine,  winch  is  mentioned  below  were  as  follows: 

rapidly  growing  in  favor  as  a  finishing  wood  1883  1882 

in  expensive  residences  and  offices.  Lumber,  ft 1,839,941,000  '      2,110,841,000 

STOCKS  ON  HAND.  Shingles,  No 1,140,000.000  954,000,000 

The  stocks    of  lumber,  lath,  and  shingles     Lath,  pcs 65,477,000  59,737,000 

on   Jan.    1,    from  1870  to  1884,  inclusive,     £?sts'Pcs ?'lXf'off 

•nrore  as  follnws-  Ties,   No I,714,d8  3,t>44.711 

Wood,  cords....               22,737  67,092 

t?   h"pr                 cjhin^^.                T    «,  Slabs,  cords....                26,283  24,255 

timber.                     bnmirles.                   Lath.  Tia.rk-     rorrlt;                              2fi  Ofi5  221RO 

1874.. 328,517, 742        29,542,000        28,830,150  TeleKVaDn  poles'             175293  250867 

1875.. 344,252,275        81,019,000        39,551,850  iele*r*Pn' DO1'  ^ou,»b/ 
1876..  352,587, 730        83,230.750        47,058,150 

1877..  369,381,007        97,467,000        36,823,400  HARDWOOD     LUMBER. 
1878.. 385,569,024      125,640,000        43,694,000 

1879.. 410, 773, 860      200,750,500        41,272,300  TBADE  EATHEB  UNSATISFACTORY. 

1880.. 451,282,059     190,057,000       48.630,800  The  trade  in    hardwood  lumber  the  past 
1881    497,840,673     188,722,000        50,321,000 

1882.. 560,416.842     260,900,494       48,820,438  year  and  the  preceding  one  was  on  a  whole 

1883.. 655,013.520     299,946,350       76,361,002  rather  unsatisfactory,  but  still  the  aggregate 

1884.*640,000,000     400,OOQ,000       40,000,OOO  movement  was  large,    the   receipts  here   for 

•Estimated.  the    year  being    estimated    at   280,000,000 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  H*TJT  CBNTUBY. 


139 


feet,  and  in  1882  at  300,000,000  feet  The 
boom  given  walnut  in  1880-81  has  reacted, 
and  done  more  harm  than  good,  as  it  caused 
a  large  increase  in  the  supply,  especially  of 
common  and  culls,  but  on  choice  its  effect 
was  not  so  marked.  There  was  less  desire 
manifested  by  furniture  manufacturers  and 
general  workers  in  hardwood  to  purchase 
more  than  their  wants  required,  and  the 
bulk  of  the  trade  throughout  the  year  was  of 
a  hand  to  mouth  character.  The  year  opened 
with  liberal  stocks  and  a  smail  trade,  which 
continued  until  April,  with  concessions  con- 
stantly being  made  on  commou  in  order  to 
effect  sales.  During  that  month  and  the  one 
following  more  life  was  exhibited,  and  as 
stock  was  continually  forced  on  the  market 
the  feeling  became  weak  and  unsettled  and 
prices  lower,  except  for  good  cherry,  which, 
owing  to  a  limited  supply,  held  up  well 
Orders  during  the  late  spring  were  better,  es- 
pecially for  cherry,  red  oak,  maple  and  other 
woods  used  chiefly  in  house  finishing-,  but 
walnut  was  less  in  favor.  The  fall  sales  were 
more  liberal,  and  the  best  of  the  year,  but  it 
lacked  the  spirit  that  characterized  the  trade 
in  former  seasons.  Prices  on  Walnut  declined 

?2  to  $3  per  m,  but  on  cherry  and  other 
escriptions  remaied  very  firm,  on  account 
of  the  moderate  offerings,  and  during  the 
closing  weeks  cherry  advanced  $5  per  m,  and 
closed  firm.  The  supply  of  oak  and  ash  in 
the  regions  where  it  has  been  obtained  for  a 
long  time  is  becoming  smaller  every  year. 
The  stock  of  hardwood  lumber  here  on  Dec, 
1  was  41, 156,991  feet  against  31,040,470 
feet  Jan.  1,  and  34,214,500  feet  Jan.  1, 
1882. 

COAL. 

ILLINOIS   THE    SECOND   STATB. 

In  the  production  of  coal  Illinois  stands 
the  second  State  in  the  Union,  Pennsylvania 
being  first,  and  Ohio  third.  The  area  of  its 
coal  fields,  however,  is  the  largest,  being 
45,000  square  miles,  as  reported  by  the  geo- 
logical survey,  as  against  12,774  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, 10,000  in  Ohio,  and  10,000  miles 
larger  than  any  other  State  in  the  Union. 
Many  experts,  "however,  express  the  opinion 
that  "the  area  in  Illinois  is  much  larger  than 
that  l.iid  down  in  the  geological  chart,  and 
their  opinions  are  strongly  supported  by 
numerous  discoveries  of  coal  veins  outside 
of  the  territory  designated  by  the  surveys 
above  noted.  The  growth  of  the  coal  mining 
industry  in  Illinois  may  be  inferred  from  the 
tact  that 

THE  OUT-PUT  HAS  BISKN 

from  2,527,285  tons  in  1870  to  10,508,191 
tons  in  1883.  John  S.  Lord,  Secretary  of  the 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  reports  the  pro- 
gress of  mining  as  follows: 


Mines. 
1870....  322 
1880....  590 
1882  ...704 
1883....  639 

Men  em- 
ployed. 
6,301 
14.078 
19,420 
23,939 

Produc- 
tion. 
2,624,163 
6,115,377 
9,115,653 
10,508,791 

Value. 
$  6,079,432 

8,779,832 
13,69<;.L'r>7 
15.310.551 

The  average  value  per  ton  for  what  has 
been  produced  during  the  past  three  years 
has  undergone  very  little  change.  The  aver- 
age for  1880  was  $1.44;  for  1882,  $1.43, 
and  for  1883,  $1.46. 

Forty-nine  of  the  102  counties  in  the  State 
contain  mines  in  active  operation.  The  ca- 
pacity of  the  mines  is  reported  at  21,600,000 
tons  per  annum,  and  the  capital  invested  in 


mines  worked  is  mentioned  at  $10,396,540. 
In  addition  to  the  capital  and  labor  employed 
in  mines  and  mining  heavy  sums  are  in- 
vested in  transpsrtation  facilities,  and  a  large 
additional  force  of  employes  is  engaged  in 
its  distribution  to  consumers.  The  coal  is 

BITUMINOUS, 

and  although  from  its  dry  character  it  is  not 
desirable  for  coking  by  any  process  yet  dis- 
covered, it  is  extensively  used  at  iron  works 
and  other  manufactories.  It  is  a  fine  steam 
coal,  and  the  leading  fuel  used  for  heating 
purposes  throughout  the  State  outside  of 
Chicago,  and  its  popularity  here  is  steadily 
on  the  increase,  wnere  its  cheapness  and  free 
burning  qualities  renders  it  a  favorite  with  a 
very  large  class.  During  the  past  few  years 
the  demand  has  exceeded  the  supply.  Large 
shipments  are  sent  to  St.  Louis,  where  it  is 
used  more  than  anv  other  coal.  The  In- 
diana coalfields  also  furnish  large  supplies  of 
block  and  bituminous  coals  for  this  market. 
These  coals,  from  the  comparatively  short 
haul  by  rail  and  the  cheapness  with 
which  they  are  mined,  are  deliv- 
ered here  at  lower  prices  than 
any  other  outside  coals,  and.  as  with  those 
from  the  Illinois  mines,  the  consumption  re- 
sponds so  closely  to  the  output  as  to  prevent 
an  accumulation  of  stock.  Liberal  supplies 
also  come  from  Ohio,  and  the  rapidly 

INCREASING   BAILBOAD  FACILITIES 

between  Chicago  and  the  leading  coal  fields 
of  that  State  promises  to  make  it  a  far  more 
important  source  of  supply  in  the  near  fu- 
ture. The  Ohio  coals  are  noted  for  their  high 
Dercentage  of  carbon,  the  readiness  with 
which  they  burn,  and  freedom  from  sulphur. 
But  their  increased  cost,  which  is  mainly  due 
to  higher  rates  of  freight  than 
are  paid  on  Illinois  coals,  induces  a 
large  number  of  consumers  to  prefer 
the  latter  as  a  matter  of  economy. 
Pennsylvania  furnishes  a  liberal  quantity  of 
the  bituminous,  and  all  the  anthracite  coal 
consumed  here  or  shipped  to  other  points  in 
the  West  and  Northwest,  for  which  Chicago 
is  the  chief  distributing  point 

Although  the  market  has  at  no  time  de- 
veloped very  striking  features,  its  general 
condition  has  been  fairly  satisfactory 
throughout  the  year,  and  the  volume  dis- 
tributed larger  than  in  1882.  The  gain, 
however,  was  partly  due  to  the  severity  of 
the  weather  during  the  first  three  months 
of  the  year,  and  the  almost 
unprecedented  low  average  of  the 
temperature  during  the  closing  months 
of  spring,  which  necessitated  a  continuance 
of  fires  in  residences,  offices,  and  public 
buildings,  long  beyond  the  customary  period 
that  artificial  heat  is  ordinarily  required. 
But  the  increased  consumption  during  the 
first  five  months  was  partly  compensated  by 
the  comparatively  mild  weather  during  a 
portion  of  the  "closing  quarter  of  the 
year.  There  was,  however,  an  increased 
population  to  supply.  This,  with  an  im- 
proved demand  for  bituminous  and  hard 
coals  from  interior  points  that  drew  the 
bulk  of  their  stock  from  here,  made 

A  LAKGEB  BUSINESS 

than  in  any  preceding  year  in  the  history  of 
the  trade.  There  was  also  greater  consump- 
tion by  city  and  interior  manufacturers  and 
gas  companies.  The  bituminous  varieties 
used  for  the  latter  purpose  mainly  come  from 
the  Youghiogheny  fields  in  Pennsylvania. 

The  year  closes  with  a  fairly  satisfactory 
trade  in  both  hard  and  soft  coals.  Stocks  are 
fair,  but  not  excessive,  and  the  outlook  for 


140 


CHICAGO'S  FIKST  HALF  CENTURY. 


an  increasing- output  in  this  State  good.  The 
total  production  of  anthracite  coal  in  Penn- 
sylvania for  the  year  just  closing  is  reported 
at  30,700,000  tons,  against  29,120.095  in 
1882.  In  1873  the  production  reached  21,- 
227,952  tons,  being  1,257,596  tons  greater 
than  in  1863.  Hence  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
output  has  increased  about  208  per  cent  in 
twenty  years. 

RANGE  OF  PRICES. 

The  following  shows  the  opening,  hiarhest, 

lowest,  and  closing  prices  from  retailers' 
yards  for  the  years  named: 

Opening.  Highest.  Lowest.  Closing. 
Lackawanna 
(Anthracite.) 

1883 $7.75       $7.75  $6.50        $7.50 

1882 8.50         8.50  6.25          7.75 

1881 7.50         9.00  7.25          8.50 

1880 7.00         8.00  6.00          8-OO 

Illinois 
(Wilmington.) 

1883 $4.50       $4.50  $3.50        4.50 

1882 5.OO         5.00  4.00          4.50 

1881 6.00         6.00  4-50          5.50 

1880 4.00         6.00  4.00          6.00 

Briar  Hill  and  Erie. 

1883 $7.50      $7.50  $6.50        $6.50 

1882 8.00         8.OO  6.00          7.50 

1881 7.50         8.50  7.00          7.50 

1880 7.00         8.OO  6.OO           8.OO 

The  lowest  prices  were  in  June  and  July,  and 
highest  in  January. 

RECEIPTS  AND    SHIPMENTS. 

The  following  table  exhibits  the  receipts 
and  shipments  of  coal  at  Chicago  for  the 
past  sixteen  years: 

Received,  Shipped, 

Tear.                                        tons.  tons. 

1874 1. 359,496  252,872 

1875 1.641,488  365,811 

1876 1,619.039  249,862 

1877 1,749,091  271,146 

1878 ! 1.832,033  305,694 

1879 2,384,974  527,844 

1880 2,706,088  621,996 

1881 3,399.427  843,342 

1882 3,689,798  727,477 

1883 3,500,000  725.OOO 

SALT. 

ABOUT  THE  SAME  AS  LAST  YEAR. 

The  trade  in  salt  during  the  year  1883  ex- 
hibited few  features  of  interest.  The  sales 
showed  no  especial  increase — most  dealers 
reported  their  aggregate  business  about  the 
same  as  that  of  the  previous  year,  and  fully 
as  satisfactory  to  both  themselves  and  the 
manufacturers.  Prices  ranged  lower  than  in 
1882,  but  at  the  close  15c  per  bushel  higher 
for  fine  than  at  the  opening — the  range  being 
from  $1  to  $1. 15  on  line,  and  $1.35  to  $1.45 
on  coarse.  The  manufacture  of  fine  salt  at 
Saginaw,  Mich. ,  shows  a  small  falling  from 
that  of  1882,  but  an  increase  over  any  pre- 
ceding year.  The  amount  of  salt  made  in 
the  State  of  Michigan  for  the  year  ending 
Dec.  1,  was  2,882,165  barrels,  against  3,- 
307,317  biirrels  in  1882. 

The  production  of  coarse  salt  in  New  York 
was  only  about  two-thirds  of  that  of  1882, 
on  account  of  the  cold  and  rainy  weather 
during  the  early  part  of  the  seasen,  but  the 
amount  of  fine  made  was  fully  up  to  that  of 
former  years.  There  was  a  fair  amount  of 
raw  salt  brought  here  from  Louisiana  for 
the  use  of  packers,  where  large  beds  exist  on 
the  line  of  the  Mobile  and  Ohio  Railroad. 
Although  the  price  realized  was  only  $8  per 
ton,  there  was  not  enough  handled  to  cut 


any  important  figure  in  the  trade.  The 
amount  of  foreign  salt — Turk's  Island  and 
Mediterranean — was  larger  than  in  former 
years,  especially  of  coarse,  for  which  the 
consumption  was  larger.  Prices  ruled  lower 
at  $1.25  to  $1.50,  and  for  the  closing  five 
months  at  $1.25  to  $1.35. 


COUNTRY    PRODUCE. 

A  GOOD  YEAR. 

Produce  commission  merchants,  those  en- 
gaged in  the  selling  of  butter,  cheese,  eggs, 
poultry,  potatoes,  hides,  wool,  etc.,  have 
transacted  a  large  business  during  the  past 
year,  which,  as  a  rule,  has  been  profitable  as 
well  as  extensive.  There  were  seasons  of 
temporary  dullness  during  the  year,  and 
these  periodical  Spells  of  quietude  occur, 
and  these  can  be  counted  upon  annually. 
The  financial  standing  of  merchants  has  been 
good,  only  a  few  small  and  unimportant 
failures  having  occurred;  probably  in  no 
business  were  the  failures  so  few  and  liabili- 
ties so  small  as  among  produce  commission 
merchants  of  this  city.  Upon  this  fact  can 
our  merchants  be  congratulated,  and  it  is 
largely  due  to  a  conservative  and  well 
managed  course  of  carrying  on  this  particular 
line  of  trade.  The  arrivals  of  country  prod- 
,uce  have  been  very  liberal,  the 
continually  increasing  agricultural  and 
farming  interests  in  the  West 
and  Northwest,  assuring  Chicago,  which  is 
the  central  distributing  point,  an  immense 
business,  which  under  the  favorable  advan- 
tages offered  and  facilities  at  hand  is  yearly 
on  the  increase.  The  numerous  railroads 
centering  at  this  point  traversing  through 
the  most  beautiful  farming  lands,  are  extend- 
ing further  into  the  interior  and  thus  increas- 
ing business  for  commission  merchants. 

THE   DAIRYING  INDUSTRY 

continues  to  expand,  new  cheese  and  butter 
factories  being  erected  throughout  the  West 
and  Northwest.  The  capital  invested  in  the 
dairy  interests  has  been  variously  estimated 
at  from  $5,000,000,000;to  $6,000.000,000; 
estimating  returns  of  10  per  cent  on  the 
money  invested  would  produce  returns 
of  $500,000,000  to  $600,000,000. 
Besides  the  dairy  interest,  can 
be  mentioned  an  extensive  trade  in  poultry, 
which  represents  millions  of  dollars  yearly, 
and  a  large  trade  in  game,  the  revenue  of 
which  to  commission  merchants  alone 
amounts  to  a  great  many  thousands  of 
dollars  in  way  of  commission  alone.  How- 
ever, it  might  be  stated  here  that  the  game 
trade  the  past  year  has  been  interfered  with 
to  some  extent  by  adverse  laws  in  some 
States  which  tended  to  prevent  the  sending 
of  game  outside  of  its  boundries.  The  dried 
fruit  trade  is  a  large  business  of  itself,  and 
the  green  fruit  and  berry  trade  in  season  is 
an  extraordinary  large  one.  Potatoes  have 
not  been  as  renumerative  as  in  former  years, 
owing  to  an  immense  crop  throughout  the 
United  States.  The  vegetable  trade  in  season 
is  also  a  good  business,  especially  so  the 
handling  of  early  vegetables  from  far  South- 
ern pointa  The  wool  trade  has  been  only 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


141 


moderately  satisfactory,  the  numerous  fail- 
ures of  clothing  merchants  having  affected 
the  wool  trade  very  materially. 

SEEDS. 

As  to  the  business  done  in  this  market 
there  is  every  indication  of  it  having  been 
equal  in  volume  to  any  previous  year,  but  as 
figures  are  hard  to  obtain  there  is  little  to 
take  as  a  comparison.  One  fact  cannot  be 
overlooked,  however,  as  it  argues  a  con- 
tinuous growth  of  this  trade,  and  that  is  the 
enlargement  and  improvement  of  the  facili- 
ties for  handling  seeds.  Besides  the  great 
distribution  from  this  market  of  seeds  to  con- 
sumers all  over  the  country,  a  great  deal  of 
speculative  interest  has  been  attracted  and 
the  various  branches  of  the  business  have 
been  well  patronized.  In  the  values  of  seed 
as  compared  with  the  previous  year,  we  find 
in  some  instances  a  gain  and  in  otners  a  loss. 
Flax  and  clover  have  turned  out  the  most 
favorable  in  this  consideration,  but 
timothy,  Hungarian,  and  millet  show  in 
comparison  a  decline.  At  the  opening  of  the 
year  considerable  firmness  pervaded  the 
market  generally,  but  in  order  to  define  more 
clearly  the  market — the  several  descriptions 
having  individual  features  of  importance — it 
can  be  better  understood  by  referring  to  the 
various  departments  of  the  trade. 

FLAXSEED, 

one  of  the  most  important  of  seeds,  opened  at 
$1.17  to  $1. 18*2,  and  advanced  steadily  un- 
til reaching  $1.60  to  $1.65  in  May.  This 
great  advance  had  hardly  been  looked  for, 
and  to  those  who  placed  reliance  in  the  crop 
estimate  of  1882  it  was  a  most  unsatisfactory 
realization.  The  crop  of  1882  was  estimated 
at  10.000,000  bu.  and  turned  out  to  be  but 
7,500,000  bu.  Because  it  was  reported  large, 
many  crushers  would  not  buy  seed  at  the 
prices  ruling  during  the  fall  and  winter.  The 
time  came  when  they  must  buy  to  replenish 
their  stocks,  and  the  demand  was  so  much 
increased  that  it  gave  holders  a  decided  ad- 
vantage, and  when  it  began  to  look  as  if 
stocks  would  not  hold  out,  prices 
went  up  with  great  rapidity,  advancing 
in  May  to  $1.60  to  $1.6.").  '  The  supply 
of  old  seed  did  finally  become  about  ex- 
nausted,  and  in  some  ca'ses  the  mills  holding 
out  the  longest  were  hardly  able  to  get 
enough  seed  to  keep  their  machinery  in  ope- 
ration. On  the  new  crop  we  also  find  a  favor- 
able market.  Futures  being  discounted,  new 
seed  opened  a  good  deal  lower  than  old 
closed.  It  opened  in  August  at  $  1. 35  and  de- 
clined to  $1.31.  So  much  seed  was  sold  for 
future  delivery  that  it  began  to  look  as  if 
there  would  be  some  difficulty  in  filling  con- 
tracts, because  the  rainy  weather  of  tbe  fall 
checked  the  receipta  "Shorts"  were  very 
nervous  in  September  and  the  competition 
for  seed  was  so  great  that  the  market  was  ad- 
vanced to  $1.52.  Ample  provisions  to  fill 
contracts  were  finally  made,  however,  and 
the  market  went  back  to  $1.30  to  $1.31.  The 
receipts  were  not  so  large  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  year  as  the  year  before,  and  yet 


there  was  an  increase  in  stocks.  This  does 
not  exhibit  well  for  the  consumptive  de- 
mand, but  the  seed  was  centered  in 
strong  hands,  who  were  interested  m  fu- 
ture trading  and  could  easily  control  the 
market.  In  October  the  market  advanced  to 
$1,34  to$1.35.  A  good  deal  of  seed  was  taken 
for  shipment  during  the  month  in  order  to 
have  it  forwarded  before  the  close  of  navi- 
gation. During  November  the  market  re- 
acted to  $1.28,  but  at  the  close  of  the  year  it 
was  back  again  to  $1. 40  to  $1. 45. 

TIMOTHY 

left  on  hand  at  the  first  of  the  year  met  with 
a  good  market.  The  offerings  were  quite 
liberal  and  the  home  trade  only  moderate, 
but  an  export  demand  existed  which  greatly 
relieved  the  market.  A  good  many  Canadian 
orders  were  received  and  there  was  a  good 
foreign  demand,  for  England  had  two  short 
crops,  the  yield  in  1881  and  in  1882  being 
below  the  average.  This  outlet  for  our  seed 
gave  the  market  a  very  healthy  tone, 
and  during  the  first  two  months '  of  the 
year  prices  advanced  from  $1.55  to 
$1.60  for  prime  to  $1.90.  In  March  trade  hav- 
ing slacked  off,  the  market  receded  to  $1. 55 
to  $1.60.  The  market  ruled  tolerably  steady 
until  after  the  spring  trade  was  over,  when 
there  was  a  decline.  In  yiew  of  the  large 
crop  of  both  seed  and  hay,  dealers  regarded 
the  chances  for  low  prices  on  the  new  crop 
as  favorable,  and  while  in  August  the  range 
was  $1.45  to  $1.55,  after  new  seed  came  in 
freely  the  price  was  lowered  to  $1. 25  to  $1. 30. 
This  low  range  exerted  a  good  demand  both 
from  the  regular  trade  and  for  speculation. 
The  offerings  were  so  readily  taken  that  the 
market  in  October  improved  to  $1.33  to 
$1.35.  After  the  fall  trade  was  well  over  and 
when  navigation  closed  a  weaker  feeling 
again  prevailed  and  the  market  declined  to 
$1.20  to  $1.25,  and  did  not  react  materially 
up  to  the  close.  At  the  close  of  the  year  we 
find  the  receipts  small  and  the  market  quiet. 

CLOVEB 

brought  good  prices.  It  was  scarce 
the  early  part  of  the  year  for  the  crop  in 
1882  had  been  a  small  one.  It  opened  at 
$6.40  for  prime.  The  demand  was  all  that 
could  be  supplied.  Consignments  coming  on 
the  market  were  wanted,  and  buyers  had  to 
bid  up  to  get  the  seed.  The  market  advanced 
steadily  and  in  March  as  high  as  $8. 40  to 
$8.60  was  paid  with  choice  sold  at  $9.  Owing 
to  so  high  a  market  dealers  finally  limited 
their  purchases  to  actual  requirements,  and 
when  the  spring  trade  fell  off  the  market 
receded  to  $7.  It  sold  up  again  in  August  to 
$7.50  to  $8,  but  in  September  fell  off  to 
$4. 80  to  $5.  This  decline  was  due  to  an 
expected  large  crop.  The  early  frosts,  how- 
ever, did  great  damage  and  caused  a  demand 
from  quarters  where  it  was  thought  there 
would  be  seed  to  fhip.  A  good  trade  fol- 
lowed with  an  advance  late  in  the  year  to 
$5.75  to  $6.  and  seller  March  sold  at  $6.50. 

TRADE  IN  HUNGARIAN    AND   MILLET 

was  very  light,  ana  both  descriptions  were 
about  the  same  in  price.  The  market  opened 
at  50c  to  65c  with  stocks  light  Uunuir  the 
spring  the  market  advanced  to  80u  and  9Oc. 
Seed  was  held  steady  on  account  of  the  rainy 
weather,  bat  finally,  when  good  cereal  crops 
were  certain,  there  was  a  desire  to  sell,  and 
in  July  the  market  declined  to  25c  and  45c. 
Late  in  the  year  there  was  little  doing.  The 
demand  and  supply  were  both  light  and 
prices  ranged  at  40c  to  50c,  with  some  ot  the 
first  new  seed  selling  at  60a 


142 


CHICAGO'S  FIKST  HALF  CENTURY. 


The  following  table  shows  the  movement 
of  flaxseed  during  the  past  two  years; 


1883, 
143,455 
105,000 
116.000 


January  — 
February. . . 

March _ 

April 120,000 

May 47,500 

June 54,500 

July 37,500 

248,500 


1882. 

366,353 
236,423 
134,886 
99,206 
93,322 
97,258 
234,520 
3S0.500 


—  Shipped. 


6:'1.5')0  1,138,000 
S.13.000  1,079,000 
869.000 
376,500 


581,000 
205,000 


1883. 
103.839 
53,000 
104,000 
322.909 
62,278 
19.450 
92,309 
116,739 
376,023 
581,946 
425,384 
208,290 


1882. 
367,204 
211,680 
151,955 
235,596 
147,544 
141,706 
334,116 
212,074 
807,734 
937,613 
687,841 
144,708 


August 

September. 
October — 
November. 
December. 

Total.... 3,122,955    5.094.968    2,466,167    47379,771 
The  stock  in  store  is  reported  at  282,232 
bu,  against  334,630  bu  one  month  ago,  and 
455,097  bu  one  year  ago. 

BUTTEB,. 

THEBB  HAS  BEEN  A  GOOD  ACTIVE  TRADE 

during   the   past  year,    that   IB,  taking  the 
market  all  in  alL     Of  course  it  has  required 
low  prices  to  move  a  great  deal  of  the  stock, 
but   there  has  not  been  that  piling  up  and 
accumulation  of   stock   that]  has  heretofore 
proved  so  disastrous  to  the  trade;  to  the  con- 
trary,   however,    buyers   have  been  on  the 
market   pretty   much    all   the  time  at  some 
price,  so  that  stocks   have  been   moving  off 
very  fairly,  and  bv  this  means  the  supply  on 
sale  has  been  kept   fresh,   more  so  than  in 
former   years.     This  is  required  to  keep  the 
market   in   a   healthy   condition,  and  it  has 
been      demonstrated       that      the      sooner 
butter      is       marketed      the       better       it 
is     to     sell     it,     and      invariably       com- 
mands a  better  price,  even  if  held  back  on 
an    advancing    market,    as    experience   has 
taught   that   the  quality    deteriorates   to  a 
greater  extent  than  the  price  of   held  goods 
advances  in  proportion  to  fresh.     The  make 
has  been  liberal  during  the  year,   exceeding 
by  far  the  make  of  the  year  "1882.     Accord- 
ing to  statistics  furnished  the  receipts  for  the 
year  1883  in  the  Chicago  market  were  about 
11,000,000   Ibs    larger  than  the  preceding 
year.      The    stock    on  hand  in  the  Chicago 
market       on      Dec.       1       was     equal     to 
about  12.000   pkgs   of   all   kinds.      In   the 
interior    the    supply    on  hand  at  the  close  of 
the   year   was  considered  light,   as  country 
shippers  and    manufacturers  have  followed 
the  plan  of  marketing  their  goods  while  fresh. 
Pasturage  has  been  good — that  is,  there  has 
been  a  great   abundance  of  grass,  but  owing 
to     the     unusually     wet       season,      from 
early  in  the  spring  to  late  in  the  fall,  the  milk 
has  scarcely  been  as  rich,  therefore  the  make 
during  a  good  share  of  the    season    lacked 
body  and  flavor,  and  on  the   whole  perhaps 
did  not  average  in  quality  as  good    as    the 
year    1882.     While    trade  has  been  good,  it 
must  be  said  that  the  local  consumption  of 
butter,  especially  during  the  winter  season, 
when  butterine  is  made,  is  not  what  it  ought 
to  be,  bntterine  to  a  very  great  extent  sup- 
planting the  genuine  butter.      The  local  re- 
tailer sells  it  over  his  counter  because  he  can 
make  a  greater  profit  and  yet  sell  it  cheapo r 
than  creamery  or  fine    da;rv    butter,   hence 
the  desire  on  the  part  of  dea'ers  to  handle  it. 
The    export   demand    has  been  much  more 
satisfactory;    high-priced    goods    have    not 
been    wanted,    but    there   lias   been  a  large 
amount  of  lOc  to  15c  per   lb   butter   taken, 


common  ta  good  but  all  fresh  stock,  foreign 
buyers  being  as  much  adverse  to  taking  stale 
anil  rancid  stock  as  ever.  Some  good 
to  choice  creamery  was  also  taken 
at  18c  to  20c  per  fl>  ,  but  the  specu- 
lative demand  that  existed  at  these  same 
figures  interfered  with  the  legitimate  export 
movement,  as  prices  were  soon  advanced 
above  exports  limits  through  this  specula- 
tion. A  very  healthy  export  movement 
would  no  doubt  have  been  established  at 
from  18  to  20c,  but  expert^rs  refused  to  fol- 
low any  advance  above  these  figures,  and 
contented  themselves  with  their  home 
production,  or  else  supplied  their  wants  with 
oleomargarine  and  other  manufactured 
goods  at  home.  As  it  was,  the  exports  have 
been  fully  three  times  as  large  for  the  twelve 
months  ending  Nov.  31,  1883,  as  compared 
with  the  same  period  in  1882.  The  low- 
priced  butter  taken  for  export,  say  at  about 
lOc  per  pound,  was  mostly  used  for  baking 
purposes,  and  has  been  preferred  to  oleo- 
margarine or  other  manufactured  goods,  as 
the'  latter  does  not  appear  to  work 
up  as  satisfactorily  for  baking  purposes  as 
butter.  The  butterine  business  has  as- 
sumed gigantic  proportions,  and  while  no 
figures  can  be  obtained  of  the  amount  made 
it  can  be  said  that  the  manufacture  has  been 
greatly  in  excess  of  last  year;  several  new 
firms  have  started,  and  the  old  firms  have 
largely  increased  their  facilities.  The  butter- 
ine business  will,  it  is  feared,  check  the  mak- 
ing of  dairy  butter  to  a  greater  or  less  de- 
gree every  year,  and  dairymen  may  find  it  to 
their  advantage  to  sell  milk  to  the  creamer- 
ies. And  why?  Because  the  low  prices  at 
which  the  dairy  butter  sells  is  not  remuner- 
ative enough,  and  good  fair  prices  for  milk 
will  pay  them  better.  Fine  butter  is  always 
as  a  rule  wanted.  Butterine  makers  must 
have  it.  Without  high-flavored  butter  butter- 
ine cannot  be  successfully  made,  and 
the  competition  for  fancy  fresh  makes  of 
high-flavored  creamery  assures  the  makers 
good  paying  prices  pretty  much  the  entire 
year  round,  from  one  source  or  other. 
Hence  every  year  the  creamery  system  of 
butter  making  grows  in  favor  and  increases, 
while  the  older  system  is  gradually  going 
out  Prices  ranged  at  the  opening  of  the 
year  at  36  to  40c  for  creamery,  and  12^  to 
I3i%c  for  packing  grades.  But  by  the  last  of 
January  prices  declined  to  32  to  3  5c  for 
creamery,  and  advanced  in  March  to  35  to 
39c.  By  the  first  of  April  prices  for  cream- 
ery declined  to  22  to  30c,  and  during  May 
and  June  sold  within  16  to  20c,  and  during 
July  and  August  at  18  to  21c,  while  packing 
grades  sold  at  8  to  G^c.  In  September 
prices  for  creamery  reacted  to  18  to  22c, 
and  from  then  to  the  last  of  November  prices 
advanced  to  38  to  42c,  declining  the  last  of 
the  year  to  30  to  35c.  Packing-  grades  ranged 
at  9  to  lie. 

The  following  exhibits  the  extreme  range 
of  prices  for  the  years  namr-d,  outside  prices 
being  for  fine  creamery,  and  inside  for  fresh 
packing  stock  or  low  grades: 

Opening.       Highest.      Lowest.      Closins. 
1881.  .1-2    c?)3()c    15    @38c    8*2@19c    1" 
1^'J..  12^380    14    @47c  10    @21c    12  ^j  •<  Inc.- 
1883..121s@40c    12J3@42c    8    @20c       9    @35c 


EGOS. 

No  regular  statistics  have  as  yet  been  com- 
piled that  would  give  any  correct  idea  of  th<4 
movement  of  so  important  a  branch  of  the 
produce  trade.  The  railroads  furnish  a  par- 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  UHJNTUJU. 


143 


tial  report,  but  no  figures  are  furnished  by 
the  express  companies,  which  at  certain  sea- 
sons of  the  year,  particularly  during  the 
spring1  months,  furnish  a  large  portion  of  our 
supplies.  Therefore  it  is  impossible  to  give 
even  approximate  figures  that  would  in  any 
way  convey  a  correct  idea  of  the  magnitude 
of  the  yearly  traffic  in  this  commodity.  A 
very  satisfactory  trade  has  existed,  proving 
remunerative  to  farmers  and  interior  ship- 
pers, prices  having  averaged  higher  than 
during  the  year  1882.  This  has  been  due 
largely  to  a  good  demand  from  parties  who 
make  a  business  of  placing  eggs  in  ice- 
houses to  supply  the  market  during  the  win- 
ter months.  This,  too,  helped  to  keep  prices 
firm,  as  whenever  the  market  would  touch  a 
point  sufficiently  low  in  their  estimation 
they  would  step  in  and  buy,  and  their  pur- 
chases in  more  than  one  instance  during  the 
summer  checked  the  decline  when  the  mar- 
ket appeared  the  weakest.  So  much  to  the 
advantage  of  the  Chicago  market,  which  has 
the  best  of  cold-storage  facilities.  In  regard 
to  the  supply  of  cold-storage  eggs  it  can  be 
stated  that  the  supply  in  the  country  ice- 
houses the  past  year  has  been  smaller  than 
during  the  year  1882,  while  the  city  supply 
is  believed  to  have  been  larger.  Fresh  eggs 
the  first  of  the  year  ruled  steady  and  firm  at 
25c  to  31c.  About  Feb.  14  to  the  15th 
fresh  eggs  commenced  to  arrive  from  St. 
Louis  and  Southern  points,  and 
the  market  weakened  to  28c, 
and  then  off  steadily  from  24c  to  25c, 
closing  at  these  figures  on  the  last  day  of 
February.  March  1  the  market  opened 
lower,  with  sales  at  20c  to  21c,  and  fluctu- 
ated down  in  May  from  14i^c  to  15c.  In 
June  sold  up.  to  16c"and  16^0,  but  sold  back 
again  to  14c'and  14^0  by  the  middle  of  July, 
which  were  the  lowest  prices  reached.  Then 
advanced  steadily  during  the  balance  of  the 
year  to  25c  and  28c  per  doz.  Ice-house  eggs 
have  sold  at  times  close  to  the  price  of  fresh, 
and  from  that  4c  to  5o  less. 

The  following  range  of  prices  show  the  ex- 
tremes for  four  years: 

1880.  1881.  1882.  1883. 
Highest..28@30  50@55  27@29  30@31 
Lowest...  8@  9  10@11  12@1213  14@14J« 

CHEESE. 

Dealers  expressed  themselves  well  satisfied 
with  the  cheese  trade  for  the  year  1883.  The 
volume  of  trade  has  been  large  and  prices 
have  varied  widely,  ruling  much  higher  for  a 
long  period  than  during  the  year  1882,  and 
also  for  a  time  ruled  somewhat  lower.  Dur- 
ing the  summer  receivers  and  dealers  in  gen- 
eral experienced  a  great  deal  of  trouble  with 
hot- weather  made  stock,  which  caused  con- 
siderable dissatisfaction  at  the  time,but  other- 
wise the  year's  trade  has  been  both  profitable 
and  satisfactory.  Home  consumption  has 
been  good,  the  Southern  and  Western  trade 
having  drawn  well  upon  our  supplies,  and  the 
export  movement  was  also  quite  active  at 
times  when  prices  were  within  the  reach  of 
foreign  buyers.  The  exports  for  the  year 
1883  from  the  United  States  were  re- 
ported at  about  110,000,000  pounds, 
against  about  103,000,000  pounds  for 
the  year  1882.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  year  1883  stocks  were  light  and  the  mar- 
ket firm,  full  cream  cheddars  selling  at  12*2 
*o  13c  and  flats  at  7  to  8c  per  pound.  High 
as  these  prices  were,  an  almost  uninterrupted 
advance  continued  to  take  place  during  the 
"rst  quarter  of  the  year,  and  also  during  a 


part  of  April,  prices  reaching  15  to 
for  prime  full  cream  cheddars  and  lO1^  to 
12c  for  flats.  In  April  prices  eased  off  a 
trifle,  but  still  maintained  an  unusual  high 
range,  even  surprising  the  most  sanguine 
bull.  This  state  of  affairs  was  attributed 
to  the  fact  that  all  the  large  home 
consuming  markets  were  almost  bare 
of  cheese,  and  also  to  the  unusually 
late  season,  owing  to  cold  and  unseasonable 
weather.  Late  in  April  and  early  in  May 
the  feeling,  however,  changed  to  weakness, 
and  by  the  close  of  the  month  prices  had  de- 
clined fully  2!«2C  per  pound.  Production  in- 
creased materially  and  consumption  fell  off. 
Supplies  began  to  accumulate,  and  prices 
continued  to  decline,  finally  reaching  9(2) 
91*30  per  pound  in  June.  Speculators  evi- 
dently thought  prices  low,  and  exporters  also 
felt  as  though  these  were  bottom  figures,  and 
for  a  time  a  very  sharp  demand  existed  at  9c 
to  9130  and  thereabouts.  Speculators  were 
the  principal  buyers,  and  the  movement  was 
so  brisk  that  manufacturers  scarcely  gave 
cheese  enough  time  to  cure  on  shelves.  The 
June  make  and  a  portion  of  July  was  taken 
at  these  pricea  Operators  forget- 
ting that  prices  would  naturally 
check  consumption,  and  as  production 
increased,  all  the  central  markets  were  con- 
tinually crowded  with  fresh,  uncured  cheese, 
and  the  result  was  a  further  decline  in 
prices,  almost  creating  a  panic,  so  much  so 
that  exporters  and  early  buyers  lost  confi- 
dence in  this  staple,  believing  that  we  would 
have  a  repetition  of  the  seasons  of  1877  and 
1878.  The  rapid  decline  in  products  helped 
the  downward  course  in  cheese.  This  state 
of  affairs  continued  until  prices  reached  7^ 
to  8c  per  Ib  in  August,  when  consumption 
and  the  shipping  demand  increased'very 
rapidly,  and  the  hot  weather  cheese  was 
mostly  consumed.  Later  on  prices  com- 
menced to  steadily  improve,  and  with  alight 
make  in  the  fall,  caused  partially  by  early 
frost  affecting  pasturage  and  the  corn  crop, 
the  market  ruled  strong,  prices  reaching 
12i<2  to  13c  for  full  cream.  The  year  closed 
with  light  stocks  in  the  hands  of  dealers  and 
manufacturers,  and  indications  that  fall- 
made  goods  will  be  closed  out  at  high  prices. 
The  range  of  prices  for  full  cream  cheddars 
for  the  year  1882  was  9^  to  13^c— the  low- 
est prices  being  reached  in  July. 

HOPS. 

At  the  date  of  our  last  annual  review  of 
the  hop  market,  stocks  were  light  and  prices 
at  a  point  never  Def  ore  reached.  High  prices 
were  maintained  during  the  winter,  but  by 
rigid  economy  in  the  manufacture  and  by 
drawing  more  freely  than  usual  on  the  stocks 
of  malt  liquors  by  dealers,  manufacturers 
managed  to  get  along  and  the  limited  supply 
of  hops  proved  ample,  and  after  March  prices 
rapidly  declined  to  25c  per  pound  or  4. 50 
per  ce'nt  from  the  prices  of  November  and 
December.  Profits  of  the  early  season  were 
swept  away  and  many  disasters  occurred 
among  the  mere  speculative  members  of  the 
trade. 

The  crop  of  1883  was  large  in  quantity  but 
very  uneven  in  quality.  This  was  the  con- 
dition in  all  the  hop  producing  districts  of 
the  world.  The  result  has  been  a  wide 
range  of  prices — the  better  grades  bearing 
remunerative  prices  and  the  lower  being  a 
drug  at  low  pricea 

The  poor  quality  of  the  hops  in  the  West 
and  East  was  attributed  to  the  continued 


144 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUTtY. 


cloudy  and  wet  weather,  there  not  being 
enough  bright  sunny  weather  to  dry  out  the 
hops  and  prevent  lice  and  mold.  On  the 
Pacific  Coast  it  seems  to  have  been  just  the 
reverse,  too  dry  weather  there  having  lessened 
the  production  of  good  hops. 

The  production  of  the  United  States 
is  estimated  at  210,000  bales  of  180 
pounds  each;  i.  e..  Pacific  Coast,  43,000; 
Western  States,  8.000;  New  York,  155,000, 
and  New  England  States,  4,OOO. 

Home  consumption  is  estimated  at  170,000 
bales,  leaving  for  export  40,000  bales,  of 
which  27,000  have  been  exported,  and  the 
remainder  will  probably  be  needed  by  Eng- 
lish brewers.  It  is  generally  conceded  by  the 
trade  that  prices  for  better  grades  will  be 
fairly  maintained  during  this  crop  year. 

The  condition  of  the  trade  is  healthy.  Chi- 
cago dealers  have  been  conservative,  and  the 
volume  of  business  increased  with  the  growth 
of  our  Western  territory : 

The  following  were  the  figures  current  at 
the  close  of  the  years  1883  and  1882: 

1883.  1882. 

Fancy  New  York @28       $....@1.00 

Choice  New  York 25@27        1.0001.05 

Prime  New  York 22@24  90®    95 

Low  grade  New  York 14^20  ...@    ... 

Pacific  Coast,  fair  to  good. .  .22@25  85@1.05 

Westerngood 18@22          40@    70 

Western  common 12@17          20@    30 

BROOMCORN. 

The  crop  of  broom  corn  raised  annually  is 
estimated  at  about  24,000  tons,  about  1,000 
tons  of  which  is  raised  in  the  Mohawk  Valley 
of  New  York,  and  the  rest  is-  produced  in  the 
West  Of  this  amount  it  is  estimated  that 
nearly  two-thirds  is  handled  in  the  Chicago 
market  The  crop  harvested  in  the  fall  of 
1882  was  a  large  one.  It  was  rather  a  poor 
one,  though,  in  point  of  quality,  the  color  of 
the  corn  was  not  good,  perhaps  better  than 
usual,  but  there  was  a  shortage  of  hurl,  it 
running  largely  to  a  coarse  and  curly 
growth.  In  view  of  the  heavy  yield  in  1882 
dealers  bought  rather  sparingly  and  only  the 
best  grades.  All  through  the  fall  and 
winter  a  large  portion  of  the  crop 
was  shipped  in  commission  lots,  and 
the  market  at  times  was  glutted, 
causing  prices  to  depreciate,  so  that  common 
brush  sold  all  through  the  early  part  of  the 
year  as  low  as  2c  to  3c  per  pound.  Low 
prices  and  a  plentiful  supply  caused  an  in- 
creased manufacture,  and  while  dealers  sold 
considerably  more  than  usual  in  the  fall, 
trade  was  also  large  right  through  the  year. 
There  was  an  exception  to  the  generally  low 
prices  of  brush,  in  hurl  and  fine  green  self- 
working  stock,  which  in  spite  of  the  large 
supply  of  low  grades  was  found  to  be  com- 
paratively scarce,  and  advanced  from  GI^C  to 
;»c  per  pound,  it  being  needed  to  work  up  the 
coarser  grades.  Later  in  the  season  the  ac- 
cumulation of  short  coarse  and  seedy  corn 
wore  away  under  the  inroads  made  upon  it 
by  large  manufacturers  who  bought  on 
account  of  cheaj  ness,  and  September 
found  the  old  stock  pretty  well  cleaned 
up  and  the  market  was  in  good  condition 
for  the  new  crop,  although  a  few 
hundred  tons  remained  in  the  Illinois  Central 
and  Chicago.  Burlington  and  Quincy  Railroad 
districts  of  Illinois,  and  this,  since  the  fall 
trade  opened,  has  been  a'l  workrci  off.  Plant- 
ing in  1883  was  smaller  than  the  year  before, 
partially  on  account  of  low  prices  consequent 


to  a  poor  quality.  In  Kansas  alone  there  was 
a  falling  off  of  about  40  per  cent,  according 
to  the  State  reports.  There  was  also  less 
planting  along  the  lines  of  the  Illinois  Central 
and  Burlington  Koads.  The  acreage  in  Ne- 
braska was  fully  up  to  previous  years.  Mis- 
souri is  uncertain,  but  is  believed  to  have 
grown  less  than  usual  As  regards  trade  in 
new  corn,  it  was  good  from  October  until 
along  in  November,  but  late  in  the  year  it 
fell  off,  and  was  maiuly  on  orders.  This 
year's  crop  was  at  first  supposed  to  be  better, 
or  it  might  be  said  very  good  in  quality,  but 
the  proportion  of  hurl  is  found  to  be  small 
as  compared  with  the  lower  grades, 
a  large  percentage  of  the  crop  be- 
ing short,  stained,  and  damaged. 
Prices  until  recently  have  ruled  favorable, 
but  have  declined,  although  the  decline  has 
not  affected  choice  medium  and  hurl,  it  being 
most  severe  for  short  and  common  brush. 
Considerable  of  the  late  brush  in  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  was  damaged  by  the  heavy  fall 
rains,  and  growers  would  do  well  to  have 
sheds  provided  before  another  crop,  that  their 
corn  may  be  cured  thoroughly  dry,  for  many 
growers'  in  the  States  named,  la'cking  these 
facilities,  lost  heavily  on  account  of  corn  be- 
ing damaged.  Stocks  at  the  close  of  the  year 
are  ample.  The  depression  of  the  market  has 
been  caused  by  large  consignment  offerings, 
but  it  is  thought  that  these  offerings  will  be 
largely  taken  up  in  a  short  time.  The  crop 
has  been  largely  forwarded,  for  a  year  ago 
farmers  held  their  corn  and  took  low  prices 
in  the  spring,  while  this  year  they  seem  to 
have  been  actuated  into  sending  it  to  market 
about  as  soon  as  ready  to  ship. 

HIDES. 

While  prices  have  not  undergone  any  very 
serious  fluctuations  the  trade  on  the  whole 
has  not  been  in  a  very  satisfactory  con- 
dition. Dealers  have  been  compelled  to  sell 
on  extremely  small  margins,  and,  taking 
into  consideration  the  shrinkage  and  other 
disadvantages  to  contend  with,  the  profits 
have  been  small  and  percentage  of  gain  on 
the  capital  invested  comparatively  trifling. 
The  hide  trade  the  past  few  years  has  be- 
come entirely  revolutionized.  Years  ago 
commission  merchan  ts  handled  the  bulk  of 
the  hides  coming  to  this  market  The  com- 
mission man  was  the  first  partyv  the 
hide  dealer  the  second.  But  our  merchants 
have  lost  the  greater  share  of 
this  trade  by  dealers  establishing  agen- 
cies throughout  the  West  and  Northwest,  so 
that  at  one  time  they  controlled  the  greater 
part  of  the  hide  trade.  However,  since  Chi- 
cago has  become  the  cattle  slaughtering  mar- 
ket of  the  world,  dealers  have  lost  their  hold 
to  a  certain  extent,  and  where  dealers  have 
been  able  to  dictate  prices  to  interior  seller.-- 
on  small  lots  picked  up  here  and  there,  they 
are  now  compelled  to  a  greater  degree  than 
before  to  meet  tne  views  of  the  city  slaught- 
erers, as  the  compet  tion  for  large  lots  neces- 
sitates their  buying  on  small  margins  and 
bidding  up  full  prices.  Thousands  of  cattle 
which  have  been  slaughtered  promiscuously 
throughout  the  West  now  find  a  market  here. 
and  hides  which  \vouldfindasalethroughtho 
hands  of  commission  meiciuaits  are  now 
lost  to  them.  The  numuer  of  tanneries  in 
operation  adjacent  to  and  in  this  city  are  re- 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


ported  to  be  about  17.  Taking-  green  salted 
hides  as  a  basis,  sales  have  ranged  from' 8 14.0 
at  the  opening1  of  the  year,  to  8*2  to  8140  in 
March,  back  to  734  to  8c  in  April,  then  up  to 
8  l;>c  in  June,  and  back  again  to  8c  in  Sep- 
tember, ruling  steady  at  this  price  during  the 
balance  of  the  year.  Green  salted  calf-skins 
have  sold  at  12  to  13c.  The  failures  which 
occurred  in  the  leather  houses  naturally  had 
some  effect  upon  the  hide  market,  and  was 
one  of  the  reasons  for  the  decline  during  the 
latter  half  of  the  year. 

POTATOES. 

A  very  marked  reaction  from  the  extreme 
high  prices  current  during  the  year  1882 
has  followed  in  the  year  1883,  and  while  in 
the  former  year  prices  ruled  extremely  nigh, 
they  during  the  year  Just  closed  have  ruled 
exceedingly  low.  Trade  during  the  first  half 
of  the  year  was  good,  but  during  the 
last  half  unsatisfactory,  an  overabundant 
supply,  the  crop  bein<r  an  unusually  large 
one.causingsuch  low  prices  as  to  make  it  im- 
possible to  handle  them,  and  shippers  inva- 
riably suffered  losses  on  their  shipments. 
The  market  the  first  half  of  year  was  rather 
firm.  The  receipts  were  only  fair  and  not 
more  than  equal  to  requirements,  and  some- 
times light,  so  that  with  a  moderate  shipping 
and  local  trade  prices  ruled  firm.  Early  in 
January  sales  ranged  at  55  to  70c  per  bu  for 
car  lots  of  common  to  choice  straight  stock, 
advancing  later  in  the  month  to  70  to  85c, 
and  fancy  stock  sold  to  87  ^  to  90c.  But  in 
February  prices  receded  to  60  to  75c,  and  in 
March  to  40  to  65c,  when  mild  weather  in- 
fluenced very  free  shipments  from  the  inte- 
rior. About  the  last  of  March  prices  again 
rallied  to  45  to  75c,  but  in  April  sold  off  to 
35  to  60c,  and  from  then  to  the  end  of  June, 
which  closed  the  season  for  old  potatoes, 
sold  between  35  to  55c  per  bu.  New  pota- 
toes made  their  first  appearance  in  this  mar- 
ket in  April,  the  first  sales  of  Bermuda  being 
at  $7. 50  to  $8  per  brl  and  New  Orleans  at  $5 
per  brl.  For  a  few  days  sales  were  made  at 
$4  to  $5  per  brl,  but'  by  the  19th  of  May 
prices  had  declined  to  $2.50  to  $3. 50  per 
brl,  good  to  choice,  and  poor  stock 
sold  at  $1.50.  In  June  prices 
reached  $1.75  to  $2.25  per  brl  for 
choice,  and  in  July,  August,  and  September, 
when  neighboring  farmers  brought  potatoes 
to  market,  sales  were  made  at  75c  to  $1.50 
per  brl.  In  September  bulk  lots  commenced 
to  arrive,  and  sales  of  these  by  the  car 
ranged  during  the  balance  of  the  year  from 
25c  to  30c  per  bu  mixed  to  30c  to  40c  for 
choice,  and  some  fancy  sold  at  45c  to  48c. 
In  November  the  first  severe  frost  caught  a 
large  number  of  cars  of  potatoes  on  the 
track  not  properly  protected,  and  a  great 
deal  of  the  stock  was  so  badly  frosted  that  it 
was  actually  worthless.  Peachblows  during 
the  year  have  not  sol  das  well  as  early  rose,  ex- 
cepting for  an  occasional  fine  car.  The  rea- 
son for  this,  it  is  said,  is  that  the  peachblow 
variety  is  running  out,  the  quality  being 

Eoor,  the  potatoes  very  uneven,  coarse,  and 
ollow.     The  early  rose  and  Burbank  varie- 
ties have  been  preferred. 

DRIKU    FRUITS. 

THREE  MTLLION  DOLLABS  IS  THB  ESTIMATE 

placed  on  the  volume  of  business  done  an- 
nually in  the  handling  of  dried  fruits — gen- 
erally domestic — in  this  market  The  capital 


invested  in  the  prosecution  of  this  business 
is  approximated  at  about  $600,000.  It  can 
hardly  be  said  that  this  trade  has  grown 
much  in  the  past  year  or  two  or  has  kept 
pace  with  the  progress  and  development  of 
other  industries  in  this  city.  The  reason 
probably  is  that  for  two  seasons  the  fruit  crop 
of  the  East  has  been  comparatively  light,  and 
from  the  northern  fruit  belt  this  market 
has  usually  derived  its  greatest  supplies,  es- 
pecially of  apples,  which  form  really  the 
principal  item  of  the  list  of  dried  fruits.  And 
yet,  while  there  has  been  no  large  gain  in 
trade,  this  does  not  imply  that  there  has  been 
any  decrease;  on  the  contrary,  business  has 
averaged  very  good.  The  West  and  Northwest, 
the  great  consuming  districts,  hardly  used  so 
much  dried  fruit  as  in  former  years,  for  it 
will  be  remembered  that  in  1882  the  yie^d  of 
fruit  of  all  kinds  was  unprecedentedly  liberal 
all  over  the  sections  named,  and  while  there 
was  green  fruit  to  use  in  its  season  there  was 
also  a  little  surplus  left  for  drying  and  for 
use  from  time  to  time.  This  had  some  effect 
on  trade,  there  is  no  doubt,  for  in  the  spring 
of  1883  the  supply  of  fruit  was  lighter  than 
had  ever  before  been  known,  and  dealers  be- 
gan to  look  for  higher  prices  and  a  larger 
trade.  They  did  advance  prices  somewhat, 
but  they  did  not  succeed  in  keeping  them  up 
because  the  expected  demand  was  not  re- 
alized, and  probably  for  the  reason  named. 
As  stated,  the  quantity  of  fruit  on  hand  at 
the  opening  of  the  year  was  comparatively 
light,  being  estimated  at  7,000  barrels  of 
apples,  6,000  barr  Is  of  peaches,  4.500  bar- 
rels blackberries,  10,000  oases  evaporated 
apples,  2,000  barrels  pared  peaches,  and 
about  800  barrels  of  other  small  fruit. 
Although  the  country  demand  was  not  up 
to  expectations,  and  the  order  trade  Buffered 
some  from  the  decrease,  there  came  instead 
an  export  demand,  especially  for  apples, 
which  tended  to  stimulate  the  feeling  when 
otherwise  some  disappointment  might  have 
followed.  Before  the  opening  of  the  season 
for  handling  fruit  of  the  growth  of  1883  the 
market  was  quite  completely  cleared  of  offer- 
ings. The  business  of  the  year  has  been  quite 
remunerative  to  those  engaged  in  it,  because 
there  has  been  no  wild  speculation.  Dealers 
have  carried  about  what  stock  they  calculated 
they  could  sell  at  a  fair  profit  and  avoid 
crowding,  and  this  act  of  conservatism  has 
been  beneficial  in  its  results.  Fruit  of  the 
crop  of  1883  has  not  come  forward  very 
freely,  and  from  September  to  the  present 
time  only  moderate  stocks  have  been  held  by 
deaiera  There  is  in  store  at  the  present  time 
abouc  3,000  brls  apples,  2,500  brls  peaches, 
2,000  brls  blackberries,  8,000  cases 
evaporated  apples,  1,000  brls  pared 
peaches,  300  brls  cherries,  and  150  brls  rasp- 
berries. While  the  market  is  fairly  well  sup- 
plied, in  view  of  current  demand  and  prevail- 
ing business  troubles,  yet  it  is  considered  as 
an  aggregate  to  be  the  smallest  stock  ever 
held  in  Chicago  at  any  corresponding  period. 
The  supplies  have  come  largely  from  the 
South  and  Southwest  The  great  Northern 
fruit-producing  States  had  very  small  crops 
and  have  not  added  materially  to  the  supply, 
So  light  has  the  crop  been  in  the  North  for  the 
last  two  seasons  that  in  some  instances 
evaporators  of  apples  have  changed  their  lo- 
cations for  operating  to  the  South,  where  the 


146 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTTTRf. 


requisite  supplies  could  be  the  more  readily 
obtained,  tout  tliis  move  maybe  only  tempor- 
ary. The  Southern  and  Southwestern  States 
had  fair  crops  of  apples,  but  the  peach  crop 
fell  off  largely  from  former  years.  When  it  is 
understood  'that  Utah  and  Oregon  had 
nearly  an  entire  failure  of  fruit 
crops,  California  a  partial  failure,  and 
Canada  almost  a  complete  failure,  it  is  fair 
to  conclude  that  the  ensuing  six  months  will 
witness  an  active  and  profitable  trade,  as  the 
territory  ordinarily  supplied  from  Chicago 
will  be  largely  increased  by  a  demand  from 
the  Eastern  States,  which  in  former  years 
have  sent  their  surplus  to  this  market.  Be- 
sides at  the  closing  of  the  year  prices  are  low 
enough  to  invite  trade.  Prices  during  the 
year  were  not  subject  to  any  violent  fluctua- 
tions, for,  as  stated,  there  was  not  much 
speculation,  and  while  there  was  at  no  time  a 
large  stock  to  crowd  on  sale,  the  fruit  was  at 
the  same  time  well  distributed,  and  there 
was  no  forced  value  established  by  concen- 
tration. Southern  apples  advanced  from 
6*20  to  8c,  and  closed  at  G^c  to  7i*jc  on  fruit 
of  the  crop  of  1882,  while  for  new  fruit 
prices  have  gradually  receded  S^c  to  6c. 
Michigan  apples  advanced  in  the  spring 
from  7*2C  to  8*20,  receded  to  734c, 
and  finally  closed  at  8c  to  8^20 
for  old  fruit,  and  the  new  sold  down 
from  about  l^p  to  G1^,  although  up  to  the 
present  time  few  Michigan  apples  have  come 
on  the  market  Evaporated  apples  have 
sold  during  the  year  at  9c  to  15c  per  tt>,  de- 
pending on  the  quality.  Halves  peaches  im- 
proved from  6c  to  7840  for  old,  but  for  new 
the  market  so  far  has  been  quiet  and  they 
have  receded  to  about  o\c  to  6c.  Black- 
berries opened  at  7*2C  and  sold  up  to  Q^c. 
In  anticipation  of  a  good  crop  they  sold 
down  in  August  to  7c  to  T^^c,  but  new  ber- 
ries have  not  come  in  freely  and  they  have 
reacted  to  9^  to  9840.  They  are  said  to  be 
largely  held  by  speculators  in  the  South. 
Raspberries  sold  at  32c  to  36c  for  old  and  the 
new  opened  at  about  25c  to  26c  and  im- 
proved to  27c  to  28c. 

WOOL. 

BUSINESS  GOOD. 

Business  during  the  past  year  has  been 
good,  but  not  altogether  satisfactory.  The 
clip  has  been  large  and  the  wool  cf  good 
quality,  but  the  numerous  failures  in  the 
clothing  trade  had  an  unfavorable  effect  upon 
the  market  for  wool,  and  the  trade  during 
the  year  suffered  very  perceptibly  in  conse- 
quence. As  a  rule  manufacturers  have  been 
loth  to  laying  in  any  large  stocks,  but  have 
purchased  on  a  conservative  plan,  and  merely 
bought  as  their  wants  required  them  to.  The 
close  margin  in  the  clothing  business  on 
which  merchants  have  been  compelled  to  op- 
erate made  manufacturers  very  cautious  in 
their  purchases,  and  they  selected  their  stock 
more  closely  than  in  former  years,  being 
more  exacting,  and  rejected  many  lots  which 
heretofore  would  have  passed  their  inspec- 
tion. In  fact,  they  were  compelled  to  do 
this  in  order  to  subserve  their  own  interests. 
The  reduction  in  tariff  duty,  amounting  to 
S1^  per  pound  on  wool,  created  fears  of  for- 
eign importations,  and  naturally  tended  to 
make  buyers  act  with  caution.  Speculations 
in  wool  have  also  been  restricted  for  the 
same  reasons  which  actuated  manufacturers. 


Tue  quality  of  Western  wool  fs  said  to  be 
good,  and  is  the  result  of  the  improvement 
Western  sheep-raisers  have  made  in  their 
nocks  by  the  introduction  of  new 
and  better  grades  of  stock.  A  no- 
ticeable feature  in  the  market 
was  that  manufacturers  called  mostly 
for  unwashed  wool  As  it  is  necessary  for 
them  to  scour  all  wool  before  using,  it  is 
claimed  they  prefer  to  take  it  more  in  its 
natural  state  at  the  difference  in  price  and 
clean  it  according  to  their  own  notions. 
Stocks  in  the  hands  of  dealers  at  the  close  of 
the  year  were  not  large.  In  January  un- 
washed wool  sold  within  the  range  of  17  to 
28c  per  pound,  and  washed  within  the  range 
of  25  to  37c,  but  advanced  in  February,  ow- 
ing to  an  improved  demand,  to  18  to  30c  per 
pound  for  unwashed,  and  to  25  to  41c  for 
washed.  In  May,  however,  owing  to  a  period 
of  dullness,  prices  declined  to  22  to  39c  for 
washed  and  16  to  26c  for  unwashed,  which 
range  was  later  on  reduced  about  1  to  2c  per 
pound  on  some  grades,  and  closed  dull.  The 
range  of  prices,  which  averages  considerably 
lower  than  last  year,  is  given  below,  showing 
the  comparison  with  the  year  1882: 


—Washed— 

—  Unwashed— 

1883. 

1882. 

1883. 

1882. 

Jan.  27  to  37 

30  to  42 

17  to  28 

16  to  27 

Feb'y.  ..25  to  41 

30  to  42 

18  to  30 

16  to  27 

March 

..25  to  41 

30  to  42 

18  to  30 

16  to  27 

April. 

..25  to  41 

30  to  40 

18to3O 

16  to  30 

May.. 

..22  to  39 

30  to  40 

17  to  26 

16  to  30 

June  . 

..22  to  37 

29  to  40 

16  to  34 

16  to  27 

July.. 

..22  to  37 

29  to  49 

16  to  24 

16  to  27 

Augus 

..22  to  37 

29  to  40 

16  to  24 

16  to  27 

Sept.. 

..22  to  37 

30  to  40 

16  to  26 

16  to  27 

Oct... 

..24  to  37 

30  to  40 

16  to  26 

17to28 

Nov  24  to  37 

30  to  40 

16  to  26 

17  to  28 

Dec  24  to  37 

26  to  38 

16  to  26 

17  to  28 

HAY. 

There  was  a  larger  trade  in  hay,  but  the 
movement  cannot  be  given.  The  crop  this 
year  was  heavy,  but,  owing  to  the  wet 
weather,  the  quality  ol  the  timothy  was 
poorer,  and  of  prairie  about  the  same  as  in 
1882.  There  was  more  fine  upland  prairie 
from  Western  Iowa  and  Kansas  handled  than 
formerly.  The  shipping  demand  was  fair, 
but  not  so  brisk  as  in  1882.  The  local  con- 
sumptive demand,  however,  was  good  the 
bulk  of  the  year,  and  choice  grades 
always  found  a  ready  sale,  but  common, 
which  was  offered  freely  at  times,  dragged. 
Prices  ranged  lower,  and  in  comparison  with 
those  of  a  year  ago  showed  a  reduction  of 
$1.50  to  92  per  ton  on  timotny.50c  on  choice 
upland  prairie,  and  $1  to  $2  on  ordinary  do. 


THE  MERCANTILE  TRADE. 

A   THOROUGH   CANVASS 

among  the  manufacturing  and  jobbing  estab- 
lishments of  Chicago  develops,  that  while 
there  has  been  a  very  fair  increase  in  the  .pro- 
duction and  distribution  of  nearly  all  lead- 
ing lines  of  goods,  and  the  further  fact  that 
Chicago  has  really  suffered  less  in  proportion 
to  the  aggregate  volume  of  business  done 
than  any  other  large  city  in  the  country,  the 
profits,  as  a  rule,  have  not  been  com- 
mensurate with  the  extent  of  goods 
handled,  and  in  most  cases  the  returns 
have  been  little  more  than  sufficient  to  allow 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF 


1*7 


a  moderate  interest  on  the  capital  invested, 
wMle  in  not  a  few  cases  it  has  been  difficult 
to  get  back  a  new  dollar  for  an  old  one.  The 
causes  that  contributed  to  the  demoralization 
of  trade  and  curtailment  of  profits  were  nu- 
merous, and  some  of  them  far  reaching,  not 
the  least  of  which  was  the  partial  failure  for 
successive  years  of 

THE  CROPS 

in  a  number  of  Western  States  that  had  pre- 
viously been  the  most  productive  in  the 
Union,  the  result  of  which  was  to  reduce  the 
purchasing'  power  of  a  large  population  in 
the  most  densely  settled  portion  of  the  West, 
from  which  the  heaviest  and  most  profitable 
business  had  formerly  been  derived.  The 
year  also  opened  with  large  stocks  of  nearly 
all  lines  of  goods.  But  manufacturers  had 
conceived  the  idea  that  the  consumption 
would  respond  to  the  supply,  and  without 
stopping  to  inquire  into  the  situation  drove 
their  establishments  to  their  fullest  ca- 
pacity. It  soon  became  apparent,  however, 
that  the  consumption  was  not  responding  to 
the  early  expectations.  The  falling  off  in 
demand  stimulated  manufacturers  and  job- 
bers to  greater  exertions  to  free  their  facto- 
ries and  stores  of  accumulating  stocks,  on 
which  a  heavy  shrinkage  in  values  was  in- 
evitable. The  desire  to  realize  grew  stronger 
as  the  year  advanced.  The  weather,  which 
is  always  a  factor  in  increasing  or  curtailing 
sales  as  it  is  favorable  or  adverse  to  the  con- 
sumption of  goods,  was  exceedingly  detri- 
mental to  the  interests  of  makers  and  job- 
bers of  most  leading  articles.  The  rapidity 
with  which  failures  increased  in  nearly  alJ 
parts  of  the  country  induced 

STRICTER  CONSERVATISM  AMONG  BANKERS 

in  granting  accommodations  to  customers, 
and  in  many  cases  compelled  really 
worthy  applicants  to  resort  to  forced 
sales  of  goods  as  the  only  means  of  securing 
funds  with  which  to  meet  maturing  obliga- 
tions. The  situation  of  the  dry  goods  trade, 
which  ranks  first  among  the  jobbing  interests 
of  the  country,  was  also  further  aggravated 
by  the  forced  sales  at  auction  of  enormous 
lines  of  goods,  for  which  Eastern  manufact- 
urers were  unable  to  find  buyers  in  the  regu- 
lar way.  Taese  sales  occurred  after  Western 
jobbers  had  bought  large  stocks,  hence  they 
were  compelled  to  make  rates  to  customers 
to  conform  to  those  of  the  auction-rooms. 
Large  failures  among  Eastern  cloth  and 
clothing  houses  also  brought  their  stocks  on 
the  market  at  ruinously  low  prices,  and  Chi- 
cago dealers  had  to  choose  between  meeting 
such  competition  or  a  loss  of  customers. 
It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  they 
chose  the  former,  feeling  that  they  were 
sufficiently  strong  to  make  the  sacrifice 
^.vithout  jeopardizing  their  credit. 

The  iron  trade  suffered  from  an  over-sup- 
ply, coupled  with  a  heavv  decrease  in  con- 
sumption by  railroads,  the  construction  of 
which  diminished  50  per  cent,  while  the  ex- 
penditures for  repairs  on  lines  in  operation 
were  greatly  reduced.  Heavy  failures  in  the 
trade  also  threw  large  stocks  on  the  market 
at  prices  far  below  the  cost  of  production. 


Other  classes  of  goods  suffered  from!similar 
causes,  while  the  lack  of  confidence  induced 
greater  conservatism  among[consumers,who, 
fearing  a  further  depreciation  in  prices,  re- 
restricted  purchases  to  current  wants,  and 
were  more  than  usually  persistent  in  their 
demands  for  extreme  inside  prices.  These 
unfavoring  conditions  compelled  Chicago 
manufacturers  and  jobbers  to 

WORK  ON  THE   CLOSEST  POSSIBLE  MARGINS, 

and  many  lines  of  goods  went  to  consumers 
at  prices  which  failed  to  return  a  remunera- 
tion above  cost.  Nor  is  it  surprising 
that  failures  have  occurred.  On  the  reverse, 
it  is  creditable  to  Chicago  merchants  that  the 
percentage  of  suspensions  were  so  small, 
compared  to  the  volume  of  business  done. 
Investigation  into  the  affairs  of  the  sus- 
pended firms  has  also  discovered  that  their 
troubles  were  mainly  traceable  to  causes 
outside  of  their  legitimate  business. 

The  completion  during  the  year  of  the 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad  through  to  the 
Pacific  coast,  and  the  extension  of  other 
Southwestern  lines  into  Mexico,  has  given 
Chicago  direct  connection  with  a  large  area 
of  country  not  heretofore  accessible  to  our 
merchants.  That  a  large  and  profitable  cus- 
tom will  come  from  there  in  the  near  future 
is  beyond  question.  A  large  additional  trade 
has  also  been  derived  from  Manitoba  and 
other  Canadian  districts  of  the  far  Northwest 
that  are  rapidly  settling  up  with  a  valuable 
population.  A  material  increase  is  noted  in 
the  shipments  to  South  and  Central  America, 
South  Africa,  and  Australia,  with  which  Chi- 
cago is  building  up  a  large  trade  in  agricult- 
ural implements,  vehicles,  and  many  lines  of 
machinery. 

The  rapidity  with  which  the  new  Western 
and  Northwestern  States  and  Territories,  for 
which  Chicago  is  the  chief  financial  and  com- 
mercial center, 

ARE   UNDERGOING  DEVELOPMENT, 

may  be  inferred  from  the  following  table 
showing  the  sales  of  land  by  the  General 
Government  for  the  years  ending  June  30, 
from  1880  to  1883,  inclusive: 


1883. 
Acres. 

1882. 
Acres. 

l.SSl. 

Acres. 

1880. 
Acres. 

Dakota  
Idaho  

6,689,585 
232,640 
808.655 
1,292,969 
246,458 
1,31  5,104 
448,836 
499,770 
111.914 
18,709 
454,002 
410,919 

4,355,037 
166.948 
904,061 
l,08o,737 
263,165 
884,028 
103,736 
304,139 
88,909 
58,307 
447,268 
275,578 

253.236 
133,908 
169,156 
843,968 
103,073 
643,300 
88,658 
204,734 
82,702 
46,263 
234.867 
215,042 

2,258,493 
120.323 
1.516,469 
8ft  1,027 
109,969 
1,324,718 
38.360 
239,418 
97.461 
44,247 
107,073 
186,437 

Kansas  
Minnesota- 
Montana... 
Nebraska... 
New  Mexico 
Oregon.... 
Utah  

Wyoming... 
Wisconsin.. 
Colorado.... 

Total  

12,508,37l!8,850,482  5,898,818 

6.897.005 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  increase  in  1883 
over  1880  was  nearly  100  per  cent,  and  that 
the  aggregate  for  the  four  years  reached 
34,155,678  acres.  In  addition  it  is  estimated 
thai  nearly  or  quite  20,000,000  acres  were 
sola  by  railroads  and  States  who  had  land 
grants.  These  lands  are  being 

RAPIDLY  BROUGHT  UNDER  CULTIVATION, 

and  their  annually  increasing  production 
will  largely  contribute  to  swell  the  trade  of 
this  market. 

DRY    GOODS. 

THIS  IS  THE  MOST  IMPORTANT 

branch  of  the  mercantile  trade,  and  embraces 
a  greater  variety  of  articles  than  are  handled 
by  any  other  line  of  businesa  Few,  if  any, 
other  branches  of  merchandise  have  under- 


148 


CHICAGO'S  FIBST  HALF  CENTURY. 


gone  such  radical  changes  within  a  brief  period 
both  as  regards  the  manner  in  which  it  is 
conducted,  source  of  supply,  and  points  of 
distribution.  It  is  only  a  few  years  since  the 
Atlantic  cities  had  control  of  the  entire  job- 
bin?  and  package  trade  of  the  United  States. 
Goods  were  sold  on  six,  nine,  ana  twelve 
months'  time,  and,  as  may  be  inferred,  the 
risks  assumed  by  granting  long  credos  by 
the  Eastern  jobbers  to  customers  so  widely 
scattered,  and  a  majority  of  whom  were  only 
accessible  by  stage  coach  or  horseback  jour- 
neys, was  enormous,  and  to  cover  such  risks 
enormous  profits  were  charged.  The  ease 
with  which  credit  was  secured  and  the  in- 
dulgence given  buyers  induced  tens  of 
thousands  to  engage  in  selling  goods  who 
were  as  destitute  of  knowledge  of  the  busi- 
ness as  they  were  of  capital.  They  bought 
on  credit  and  sold  on  the  same  terms.  Their 
customers,  as  a  rule,  were  poor,  and  a  ma- 
jority destitute  of  ideas  of  business  prompt- 
ness. To  them  payment  was  a  matter  of  sec- 
ondary consideration.  As  a  result  of  this 
loose  system, 

ONLY  THE  MOST  JUDICIOUS 

and  sharpest  traders  succeeded.  The  develop- 
ment of  the  country  which  followed  the  ad- 
vent of  an  extended  railroad  system  in  every 
direction  caused  a  rapid  westward  movement 
of  the  center  of  population  and  agricultural 
production,  while  the  increased  means  of 
transportation  gave  farmers  a  quick  means 
of  marketing  their  products,  and  made  them 
larger  and  at  the  same  time  more  independ- 
ent buyers.  The  advantages  ot  bringing 
dealers  and  consumers  more  closely  together 
caused  a  transfer  of  the  jobbing  trade  from 
the  Atlantic  cities  to  the  West  Instead  of 
making  a  journey  of  weeks'  duration  by  the 
most  tedious  means  of  conveyance  to  the 
Eastern  cities,  as  was  the  custom  previous  to 
the  advent  of  the  railroad  system  in  the  West, 
and  selecting  a  six  or  twelve  months'  stock, 
the  retailer  in  the  Central.  Western,  and 
Southern  States  now  steps  aboard  the  cars, 
and  in  a  few  hours  finds  himself  in  Chicago 
or  some  smaller  tributary  poinc,  where 
he  buys  such  goods  as  are  re- 
quired for  the  present  or  near 
future,  and  takes  his  departure  for  home. 
This  system  of  buying  has  lessened  the  risks 
of  accumulating  goods  that  fail  to  find  buy- 
ers, and  decreased  the  losses  incurred  by 
granting  long  credits.  The  consumption  of 
goods  has  grown  with  the  wealth  and  popu- 
lation of  the  country,  and  as  it  is  an  immuta- 
ble law  of  trade  that  people  will  buy  what 
they  require  where  they  find  the  best  market 
for  their  surplus  products,  and  as  the  geo- 
graphical position,  no  less  than  the  natural 
and  artificial  means  of  transportation,  have 
given  Chicago  the  cheaper  and  more  direct 
means  of  communicating  with  all  parts  of 
the  North  American  continent,  it  has  neces- 
sarily 

BECOME  THE  LEADING  MARKET 

In  the  world  for  the  sale  of  farm  products 
and  the  chief  distributing  point  for  dry  goods 
to  every  part  of  the  country  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghaniea  Another  and  equally  marked  change 
as  in  the  manner  of  selling  and  center  of  dis- 
tribution, has  been  the  character  of  goods 
handled.  Instead  of  relying  almost  entirely 
on  foreign  markets  for  nearly  all  of  the  best 
grades  of  cotton  and  worsted  dress  fabrics,  as 
was  the  case  a  quarter  of  a  century 
since,  the  bulk  of  such  goods  now 
sold  are  from  American  looms.  To 
such  perfection  have  American  makes  of 
cotton,  woolen,  and  worsted  dress  fabrics  suc- 


ceeded that  they  have  almost  superseded 
those  of  foreign  production.  This  is  espe- 
cially the  case  in  regard  to  cotton  and  worsted 
goods.  Like  success  is  also  attending  the 
manufacture  of  cloths  and  cassirneres, 
while  domestic  blankets  and  carpets 
have  driven  their  foreign  competi- 
tors from  our  markets.  American 
ribbons  and  threads  are  now  the  standard 
goods  at  home,  and  their  high  quality  is 
bringing  them  rapidly  into  favor  in 
countries  which  have  heretofore  been  sup- 
plied exclusively  by  European  manufac- 
tories. New  Zealand  "and  Australia  are  large 
buyers  of  such  goods  in  this  country.  Amer- 
ican silk  dress  goods  are  also  steadily  grow- 
ing in  favor  with  those  who  prefer  a  service- 
able articie,  but  the  limited  extent  of  their 
production  has  thus  far  prevented  them  from 
coming  largely  into  use.  There  are,  how- 
ever, many  lines  of  goods,  and  especially 
plushes  and  velvets,  that  are  still  chiefly  im- 
ported. Yet  the  rapid  strides  made  in  the 
direction  of 

SUFEBIOBITY  OP  CUE  HOME  MANUFACTUBES 

during  the  past  quarter  of  a  century,  war- 
rants the  conclusion  that  the  end  of  another 
decade  will  see  the  importion  of  foreign 
goods,  which  is  now  estimated  by  intelligent 
merchants  at  one-fifth  of  the  entire  consump- 
tion in  this  country,  reduced  to  one-tenth. 
There  is,  in  fact,  no  good  reason  why  our 
manufacturers  who  have  all  the  advantages  • 
in  the  shape  of  raw  materials  should  not  en- 
tirely supply  the  demand  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic  for  cotton,  woolen,  and  worsted 
goods  of  every  description. 

The  year's  business  has  been  conducted  un- 
der many  adverse  conditions;  the  winter  was 
unusually  severe  and  protracted,  hence  the 
spring  trade  was  late  in  opening.  The  un- 
favorable character  of  the  weather  through- 
out almost  the  entire  spring  and  summer 
checked  the  consumption  of  light  fabrics 
suited  to  the  ordina'ry  season's  trade.  In 
order  to  reduce  stocks  of  such  lines  jobbers 
often  found  it  necessary  to  force  sales  at  the 
expense  of  profits.  The  bad  condition  of 
trade  in  sections  from  which  Eastern  jobbers 
derive  their  largest  share  of  custom, 
also  induced  them  to  make  a  strong 
invasion  of  territory  from  which  they  had 
previously  been  driven  by  Chicago  jobbers, 
and  the  close  competition  thus  created  be- 
tween Western  and  Eastern  jobbers  resulted 
in  reducing  prices  to  figures  that  in  numer- 
ous instances  failed  to  cover  the  original  cost 
and  expense  of  handling.  In  this  connection 
it  may  be  well  to  remark  that  while  Chicago 
merchants  recognize  the  unwise  course  of 
selling  goods  at  figures  that  fail  to  yield  re- 
munerative profits,  it  is 

FUTILE  FOR  NEW  YORK  OB  OTHEB  JOBBERS 

to  suppose  that  they  can  ever  hope  to  regain 
control  of  the  trade  in  territory  which  has  once 
been  successfully  canvassed  by  dealers  in 
this  city,  and  every  effort  to  do  so,  while  it 
may  for  the  time  that  the  contest  for  su- 
premacy lasts,  lessen  and  even  destroy  the 
profits  of  our  jobbers,  the  loss  will  be  still 
more  severe  to  those  who  attempt  to  com- 
pete with  them,  and  the  sooner  that  Eastern 
dealers  realize  that  the  control  of  the  dry 
goods  trade  west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains 
nas  forever  passed  from  the  better  for  their 
own  interest,  as  it  is  impossible  to  divert 
trade  from  its  natural  channels  so  long  as 
those  who  are  in  a  position  to  control  it  show 
the  spirit  of  enterprise  and  liberalty  that 
characterize  Chicago  merchants. 
The  heavy  stocks  of  goods  in  manuf  actur 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


149 


era'  hands,  as  well  as  in  jobbers'  warehouses, 
and  the  continued  large  production  by  tiie 
former  during-  the  first  halt'  of  the  year, 
added  largely  to  the  other  misfortunes  that 
beset  the  trade-,  makers  found  stocks  accu- 
mulating1, and  their  pressure  to  realize 
caused  an  almost  steady  shrinkage  in  values 
during  the  first  eight  months  "of  the  year. 
The  only  leading  articles  that  did  not  suffer 
severely  were  prints,  on  which  a  decline  of 
about  ~>  per  cent  is  reported.  The  steadiness 
in  these  goods  may  be  attributed  to  the  fact 
that  the  almost  unprecedented  low  prices  at 
which  they  opened  at  the  beginning  of  the 
year  rendered  a  further  large  reduction  in 
quotations  an  impossibility. 

COTTON  DKESS   GOODS, 

although  possessing  unusual  merit  in  styles, 
finish,  and  fabrics,  were  in  excessive  supply, 
and  were  unmercifully  slaughtered  by  manu- 
facturers, who  forced  sales  through"  auction 
houses  regardless  of  prices,  and  thereby 
compelled  jobbers  who  were  carrying- 
stocks  to  make  corresponding1  reductions. 
The  average  decline  on  such  goods 
is  placed  by  experts  at  20  per  cent  under  the 
ruling  prices  in  1882,  although  the  latter 
were  deemed  very  low. 

Worsted  dress  fabrics  have  attracted  a 
large  share  of  favor,  and  as  stocks  were  more 
nearly  adjusted  to  the  demand  prices  were 
well  maintained  for  all  staples  of  popular 
style  and  quality,  the  only  lines  that  suffered 
be'ing  those  that  were  undesirable,  and  as 
the  production  of  such  ffoods  was  not  large 
the  losses  from  depreciation  in  values  was 
moderate.  The  demand  lor  cashmeres  and 
similar  makes  of  goods  was  about  up  to  the 
demand,  and  prices  remained  steady.  The 
same  may  be  said  of  mohairs  and  .alpacas, 
which  have  sold  fairly  at  about  last  year's 
figures.  Flannel  dress  goods  have  met  a 
large  sale,  having  to  a  great  extent  super- 
seded the  more  common  and  medium  grades 
of  worsted  and  woolen  fabrics.  Such,  in 
fact,  was  the  call  for  many  popular  makes 
that  the  supply  fell  below  the  demand  for 
consumption,  and  the  year's  trade  was 
highly  satisfactory  to  the  jobber,  and 
current  stocks  are  lower  than  usual. 

Colored  cottons,  stripes,  and  ticks  have 
been  in  large  demand,  but  not  equal  to  the 
supply,  and  in  their  anxiety  to  sell  makers 
held  repeated  sales  at  auction,  which  had  a 
demoralizing  influence  on  values  and  the 
trade  generally.  The  ruling  prices  up  to 
July  showed  a  decline  of  f  uliy  10  per  cent 
below  those  of  1882.  Since  then  the  market 
has  been  comparatively  steady,  and  as  they 
are  lower  than  the  cost  of  production,  and 
the  make  has  been  curtailed,  no  further 
shrinkage  in  values  is  anticipated. 

Both  "brown  and  bleached  sheetings  and 
shirtings  were  largely  distributed,  but  with 
heavy  stocks  constantly  in  sight,  jobbers 
made  a  special  effort  to  attract  custom  with 
them  by  offering  "drives,"  and  sales  through- 
out the"  year  were  not  only  at  lower  figures 
than  during  the  one  immediately  preceding, 
but  below  the  cost  of  production,  and  such 
is  still  the  case,  although  the  output  of  the 
mills  has  been  materially  reduced. 

A  FEATURE  IN  THE    TRADE 

in  unbleached  goods  has  been  the  large  in- 
crease in  the  volume  of  Southern-made 
goods. 

The  large  production  of  underwear,  and 
consequent  pressure  by  manufacturers  to 
realize,  kept  the  trade  in  a  most  unsatisfact- 
ory condition  throughout  the  year,  and  prices 


were  lower  and  irregular.     The  consumption, 
however,  was  large  in  consequence. 

Hoseries  were  active,  and  off  grades  irregu- 
lar, while  standard  goods  were  fairly  steady 
throughout,  and  prices  showed  little  altera- 
tion from  1882. 

The  trade  in  white  goods  was  comparatively 
quiet,  and  prices  averaged  about  the  same  as 
during  the  three  vears  immediately  preced- 
ing. 

Perhaps  no  other  line  of  goods  suffered  so 
severely  as  woolens  for  men's  wear.  Manu- 
facturers seemed  to  become  utterly  reckless 
to  consequences,  and  instead  of  acquainting 
themselves  as  to  the  probable  amount  of 
gaods  required,  and  shaping,  as  they  might 
have  done,  the  supply  to  the  demaad,  they 
went  heedlessly  to  work  to  see  how  many 
goods  they  could  turn  out;,  ana  when  they 
found  they  had  accumulated  enormous 
stock0  for  which  there  were 
no  buyers  at  remunerative  prices 
they  sought  relief  at  the  auction  rooms 
where  they  forced  sales  with  as  little  regard 
to  cost  as  they  had  previously  shown  in 
their  efforts  to  produce  without  ascertaining 
how  many  were  likely  to  be  wanted.  The 
constant  pressure  to  realize  by  makers 
necessarily  kept  the  market  in  a  demoralized 
condition,"  and  jobbers  as  well  as  manu- 
facturers, were  compelled  to  face  losses  on 
every  hand.  No  matter  how  cheap  the  goods 
appeared  when  purchased  they  were 
generally  dear  ere  they  reached  the  store  of 
the  buyer.  The  severe  shrinkage  in  values 
naturally  caused  many  heavy  failures  in  the 
trade ;  and  the  situation  was  further  greatly 
aggravated  by  the  forced  sales  of  the 
stocks  of  such  firms.  The  mild  character  of  . 
the  weather  during  the  closing  quarter  of 
the  year  likewise  assisted  to  lessen  con- 
sumption, and  the  year  closes  with  the 
market  in  a  most  unsatisfactory  condition, 
and  the  only  means  of  restoring1  it  to  a 
healthy  condition  is  by  equalizing  production 
to  consumption. 

FOREIGN  GOODS. 

The  importation  of  foreign  goods  of  nearly 
all  classes  lias  been  closely  gauged  to  the 
consumption,  and  prices  have  shown  few 
changes".  The  small  percentage  of  cotton 
dress  fabrics  imported  have  found  a  quick 
sale  at  remunerative  price.",  and  the  same 
may  be  said  of  worsted  goods,  although  they 
are  being  steadily  displaced  by  similar  lines 
of  American  manufacture.  Woolen  dress 
goods  have  met  a  fairly  satisfactory  sale  at 
well  supported  and  remunerative  quota- 
tions. 

The  importations  of  silks  were  on  a  liberal 
scale,  the  market  throughout  the  year  being 
glutted  with  low  and  medium  qualities, 
which  were  forced  on  buyers  at  figures  that 
entailed  a  loss  on  manufacturers,  importers, 
and  jobbers.  The  higher  grades,  although  in 
ample  supply,  have  met  a  very  satisfactory 
demand,  and  remunerative  profits  were 

Linens  met  an  unusually  active  sale,  and  ' 
although  the  importations  were  very  large, 
the  trade  was  seldom  more  satis- 
factory to  jobbers,  who  sav  no  other 
lines  of  goods  were  handled  with  such  grati- 
fying results  as  linens  of  every  description, 
and  the  year  closes  with  well-adjusted  stocks. 

CABPETS. 

Although  these  goods  are  handled  by  a 
numl.er  of  large  firms  who  make  them  a 
specialty,  they  are  also  sold  by  all  the  regu- 
lar jobbing  houses.  All  classes  of  dealers  in 
such  goods  report  very  large  sales,  but  un- 


150 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


satisfactory  results,  due  to  the  heavy  shrink- 
age in  values  which  may  be  said  to  have 
commenced  with  and  continued  throughout 
the  year.  The  closing-  prices  compared  with 
the  opening:  in  January  record  a  decline 
ranerinar  from  10  to  15  per  cent,  as  to  make 
and  quality. 

AVERAGE   PBICES. 

The  following  shows  the  average  price  for 
the  articles  named  in  1864,  and  from  1872 
to  1883.  inclusive: 

MILLINERY    AND     FANCY     GOODS. 

AMERICAN-MADE   GOODS  MORE  POPULAR. 

New  York,  being  the  largest  importing  city 
in  America,  is  necessarily  the  leading  market 
for  the  sale  of  all  classes  of  foreign  goods  in 
importers'  packages,  and  especially  of 
millinery  and  milliners'  stock.  Chicago, 
however,  can  justly  claim  precedence  as  the 
leading  jobbing  market  on  the  continent  for 
the  same  line  of  goods,  and,  in  the  size  and 
elegance  of  the  stores  devoted  to  the  dis- 
tribution of  such  articles,  it  is  without  a  peer 
in  this  country  or  Europe,  and  each  year 
witnesses  an  addition  TO  their  proportions 
and  splendor,  as  well  as  the  volume  of  their 
•ales,  and  an  increase  in  the  quality  of  the 
goods  handled,  the  latter  clearly  indicating 
an  advancement  in  the  wealth  and  taste  of 
tne  large  and  rapidly  augmenting 'population 
for  which  this  city  is  the  trade  center.  Each 
succeeding  season  also  witnesses  an 
expansion  of  the  territory  that  recog- 
nizes this  as  its  most  advantageous 
market  in  which  to  buy  such  gooda  This 
is  alike  attributable  to  the  rapid  settlement 
of  the  country  heretofore  accessible  to  Chi- 
cago; the  expanding  railroad  system  which 
is  yearly  enlarging  the  facilities  for  reaching 
sections  heretofore  shut  off  from  this  mar- 
ket, and  the  inducements  that  our  dealers  are 
enabled  to  offer  their  customers  in  the  way 
of  new  styles  and  attractive  goods  at  the 
lowest  prices  and  most  favorable  terms,  the 
former  being  due  to  the  assiduity  with  which 
they  study  the  wants  and  the  tastes  of  their 
customers,  and  the  latter  to  their  large  capi- 
tal, which  enables  them  to  buy  at  the  lowest 
prices,  and  their  excellent  manufacturing 
facilities,  by  which  they  are  enabled  to  con- 
vert raw  materials  into  shapes  best  suited  to 
the  wants  of  customers  in  different  sections, 
the  styles  and  qualities  of  goods  that  are  pop- 
ular in  one  part  of  the  country  being  un- 
suited  to  any  other.  The  ascertainment  of 
the  wants  of  different  localities  and  how  to 
supply  them  most  cheaply  is  an  important 
factor  in  controlling  the  trade  of  a  widely- 
extended  country.  It  is.  in  fact,  next 
in  importance  to  the  ability  to 
sell  goods  at  the  lowest  prices, 
and  has  in  connection  with  the  latter 
enabled  Chicago  jobbers  to  outstrip  those  of 
any  other  city  in  the  country,  and  made  this 
the  center  of  the  jobbing  trade  of  this  conti- 
nent for  millinery  gooda  The  extent  to 
which  the  manufacture  of  such  goods  is  car- 
ried on  here  may  be  inferred  from  the  state- 
ment that  about  2,000  hands  are  employed 
by  the  wholesale  houses,  and  the  industry  is 
steadily  on  the  increase. 

THE  WOKST   SEASON  FOB   YEARS. 

There  have,  of  course,  been  periods  when 
the  trade  suffered  severely  from  the  same 
natural  causes  that  influenced  other  lines  of 


business,    and  as  a  majority  of   the  articles 
sold  by  the  millinery  trade  are  to  a  great  ex- 
tent    classable     as     luxuries,     whose    con- 
sumption is  increased  or  diminished  in  pro- 
portion to  the  purchasing-  ability  of  consum- 
ers,   it     is     one     ot     the     first      lines    of 
business      to      suffer        from      a      decline 
in    the     country's      prosperity,     while    an 
increased  sale  is  regarded  as  unquestionable 
evidence    of    an    improved  condition    of  its 
leading  interests.     The  weather  also  exerts  a 
more  marked  influence  on  the  millinery  trade 
than  almost    any  other  line    of  goods,  and 
seldom  has  its  influence  been  more  severely 
felt  than  during  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
current  year.     Jobbers,  with    scarcely  an  ex- 
ception,  pronounced  the  past  spring  as  the 
worst  season  they  have  had  for  years.     Said 
the  manager    of    a   leading    concern,  ''Last 
spring  was  the  first  one    in  more  than  a  de- 
cade when  the  aggregate  balance  of  our  sales 
failed  to  show  an    increase  on  those    of  the 
preceding    season."      This,     nowever,    was 
partly  due  to  the  very  low  prices  for  goods, 
which     necessitated  "  the    handling    of      a 
larger      bulk      to      bring      the      aggregate 
value  up  to  the  preceding    spring.      But.~  as 
already  stated,  the  most  serious  drawback  to 
trade  was  the  cool  and  unseasonable  weather 
that  prevented  customers  from  buying  goods 
which  they  were    unable  to    utilize.      The 
caprice  of  fashion  is  also    a   most    powerful 
factor  in  the  trade,  and  during  the    current 
year  its  influences  were  adverse    to    pronts. 
As  an  example,    last   year    there     was     an 
enormous  demand  for  felt  hats  at  an  average 
of  about  $36  per  dozen,  whereas  the  present 
year  the  rage  for  hats  or  bonnets  of  the  same 
material  as  the  dress  worn  called  out  a    de- 
mand for  hat  frames  which  were  sold  at  $1@ 
1. 50   per   dozen.      In  many  other  classes  of 
goods    the   changes  were  decidedly  unfavor- 
able to    profits,  as    very   little    is'  made  on 
cheap  goods.  But  while  tne  aggregate  value  of 
goods  distributed  has  not  shown  the  increase 
expected,  and  the  pronts  have  fallen   below 
anticipations,  there  has  been  a  wider  distri- 
bution of  goods  by  the  extension  of  the  trade 
in  new  territory.  '  The  natural  growth  of  the 
country  by  settlement  and  ordinary  increase 
of  population  has  also  contributed  to  enlarge 
the  consumption    of    such   goods,    and    the 
year's  footings  will  show  that  there  has  been 
an  actual  gain  in  the  amount    of    sales,    and 
that  jobbers  have  not,  as  in  some  other  lines 
of  trade,  worked  without  a  moderate  degree 
of  compensation. 

GROWTH  OF  THE  TRADE. 

A  marked  feature  in  connection  with  the 
trade,  and  one  that  has  almost  kept  pace 
with  the  expansion  in  the  business,  is  the 
steady  increase  in  percentage  of  the  sale  of 
American-made  goods,  and  a  decadence  of 
the  consumption  of  foreijrn  production. 
This  is  especially  the  case  in  regard  to  trim- 
mings, liiiines,  and  ornaments,  which  con- 
stitute a  liberal  percentage  of  the  goods 
strictly  classable  under  the  head  of  milliners' 
goods,  and  which  a  few  years  since  were 
almost  exclusively  of  foreign  production. 

In  referring  to  the  growth  of  the  trade  in 
Chicago,  which,  as  already  stated,  is  the 
largest  jobbing  market  in  the  country  for 
the  sale  of  such  goods,  it  may  not  be  out  of 
place  to  state  that  the  first  strictly  wholesale 
house  here,  and  we  believe  in  the  West,  for 
the  exclusive  sale  of  millinery  was  opened  in 
March,  1853,  or  a  little  over  thirty  years 
ago.  Then  Chicago  was  virtually  unknown 
as  a  jobbing  market  for  any  class  of  goods. 
The  sales  during  the  first  six  momths  were 


CHICAGO'    FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


151 


only  $9,000.  At  the  close  of  the  fall  season 
the  proprietor  of  the  establishment,  deeming 
it  useless  to  keep  his  store  open  through  the 
winter,  packed  the  remainder  of  his  goods  in 
a  single  case  and  stored  them  while  he  visited 
the  East  to  purchase  a  stock  for  the  follow- 
ing: spring,  which  was  much  larger  and  ag- 
gregated $40,000.  At  present  the  gentle- 
man, whom  many  regarded  as  almost  insane 
for  making  a  business  venture  that  appar- 
ently presented  few  chances  of  success,  is 
at  the  head  of  an  establishment  occupying  a 
building  144x150,  six  stories  high,  and 
which  for  the  completeness  of  its  appoint- 
ments, extent  and  costliness  of  its  stock,  has 
no  superior  in  the  world,and  the  annual  sales 
of  millinery,  which  were  represented  by 
$9,000  in  1853,  have  reached  $8,000,000 
the  current  year.  The  latter  figures,  how- 
ever, merely  represent  the  sales  by  houses 
directly  in  the  trade.  Large  amounts  of 
such  goods  are  also  handled  by  houses  selling 
notions  and  other  lines  of  goods;  hence  a 
correct  estimate  of  sales  is  impossible. 

CLOTHING. 

MANUFACTURE  AND    SALE. 

The  manufacture  and  sale  of  men's  and 
boys'  clothing  has  for  years  been  a  leading 
interest  in  Chicago,  and  each  succeeding 
twelve  months  witnesses  an  expansion  in 
both  branches  commensurate  with  the 
wealth  and  population  of  the  widely  ex- 
tended territory  for  which  the  city  has  for 
years  been  the  recognized  trade  center,  and 
the  steadily  extending  railroad  system  in  all 
directions  is  annually  bringing  many  new 
customers  from  distant  sections  that  were 
previously  deprived  of  the  advantages  of 
this  market  by  a  lack  of  communication. 
The  chief  acquisition  during  the  year  just 
closing  has  been  Oregon,  Washington  Ter- 
ritory, and  Idaho  on  the  Northwest,  and  the 
Republic  of  Mexico  in  the  Southwest 
The  extent  of  the  business  may 
be  inferred  from  the  fact  that 
$9,000,000  is  employed  in  the 
manufacturing  and  jobbing  departments.  In 
addition  many  of  the  leading  houses  have 
large  sums  invested  in  woolen  mills  where 
the  cloths  and  other  materials  used  in  man- 
ufacturing clothing  are  woven.  By  making 
their  own  goods  manufacturers  are  often  en- 
abled to  secure  better  material  adapted  to 
special  lines  of  goods  than  can  at  all  times 
be  found  in  the  hands  of  package  dealers. 
The  laree  capital  by  which  the  leading 
houses  are  backed  also  gives  them  superior 
advantages  for  buying  in  the  lowest  markets. 
This  fact,  in  connection  with  a  well-directed 
enterprise,  has  given  Chicago  its  present 
prestige  as  the  leading  clothing  market  in 
the  United  States. 

Like  all  other  branches  of  business,  the 
clothing  interest  has  felt  the  influence  of 
previous  over-production,  and  the  distrust 
that  followed  "the  boom"  which  commenced 
in  1879  and  collapsed  in  1881.  It  has,  how- 
ever, suffered  less  severely  than  many  other 
lines  of  business;  profits"  were  also  consid- 
erably lessened  by  a  reckless  competition 
which  they  were  compelled  to  meet  from 
jobbers  in  other  cities,  who  early  in  the  year 
laid  in  large  stocks,  which  they  ultimately 
found  it  necessary  to  work  off.  regardless  of 
cost.  In  order  to  do  so  they  invaded  Chicago 


territory,  and  as  a  result  its  jobbers  were  not- 
disposed  to  stand  calmly  by  and  see  their 
trade  wrested  from  them,  but  promptly  met 
the  issue.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say 
that,  although  many  goods  sold  were  with- 
out profit,  the  contest  was  not  altogether 
without  compensating  advantages,  as  those 
who  attempted  to  secure  the  trade  learned 
that  while  it  was  possible  to  sell  goods  in  the 
territory  occupied  by  Chicago  dealers,  it  was 
scarcely  possible  to  do  so  without  loss,  hence 
they  will  be  less  inclined  to  again  repeat  the 
experiment  In  fact,  many  of  them  have 
found  it  necessary  to  retire  altogether. 

The  unfavorable  character  of  the  weather 
during  the  greater  portion  of  the  spring  and 
summer  also  operated  adversely  to  the  sale 
of  many  lines  of  light  and  medium  goods 
adapted  to  these  seasons.  But  the  very 
liberal  fall  trade  which  was  largely  due  to 
new  customers  from  the  sections  of  country 
previously  referred  to  has  partly  made  up  for 
the  adverse  conditions  already  stated, and  it  is 
generally  conceded  that  the  year's  sales  will 
show  an" excess  in  volume  and  value  over  the 
previous  one.  Nearly  all  classes  of  stock  have 
also  been  worked  down  much  closer  than 
during  either  of  the  two  preceding  yeara 
The  same  condition  is  also  reported  by  in- 
terior I'etailers,  and  as  prices  for  all  descrip- 
tions of  raw  materials  are  down  to  figures 
where  any  further  depreciation  is 
unlikely,  if  at  all  possible,  the  out- 
look for  the  incoming  year  is  much 
better  than  at  the  advent  of  the  one  just 
closing.  The  prospect  is  further  improved 
by  the  fact  that  the  liquidation  that  has  been 
going  on  for  the  past  two  years  has  driven 
many  reckless  and  weak  establishments  in 
other  cities  from  the  trade  and  rendered  the 
solvent  ones  more  prudent  There  are  also 
reasons  for  believing  that  consumers  as  a 
class  are  in  a  better  position  to  buy  and  pay 
for  what  they  want,  as  there  is  evidently 
more  property  in  the  country  to  sell  The 
weeding-out  process  that  has  been  going  on 
among  the  retail  trade  for  the  past  two  years 
has  left  that  branch  of  the  business  in  more 
competent  hands,  and  although  profits  are 
likely  to  be  small,  they  will  be  more  certain. 
This  latter  conclusion  is  warranted  by  the 
fact  that  the  arrangements  for  the  goods  for 
the  spring  trade  were  long  since  made,  and 
much  of  the  stock  is  already  finished  at  a 
cost  that,  while  it  renders  a  decline  in  valua- 
tion almost  an  impossibility,  will  induce  a 
free  consumption  at  prices  that  afford  a  fair 
compensation  to  the  jobber  and  retailer,  the 
loss  having-  already  been  borne  by  the  manu- 
facturers of  the  cloths,  who  in  their  anxiety 
to  keep  their  machinery  running  over- 
stocked the  markets  with  goods  which  they 
were  in  the  end  compelled  to  force  on  buyers 
at  such  prices  as  the  latter  were  disposed  to 
pay.  ^ 

GENTLEMEN'S  FURNISHING  GOODS. 

A   GROWING   TRADE. 

This  branch  of  the  jobbing  trade  is  becoming 
more  prominent  with  the  growth  of  the  city 
and  country  for  which  it  is  the  chief  market. 
When  the  business  was  in  its  infancy  all  the 
goods  sold  either  by  the  special  houses  or 
the  other  branches  of  trade  were  made  at  the 
East,  but  each  succeeding  year  witnesses  a 
decline  in  the  sale  of  Eastern  made 
articles  and  an  increase  in  home  products. 
All  the  houses  whose  sales  are  strictly  con- 
fined to  furnishing  goods  conduct  large  fac- 


152 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


tories,  where  nearly  every  article  in  their 
line,  except  knit  underwear,  some  styles  of 
g-loves  and  hoseries,  and  handkerchiefs  are 
made.  These  factories  employ  several  thou- 
sand operatives,  mainly  ladies  and  young 
girla  In  addition  to  their  own  direct  cus- 
tomers in  the  jobbing  and  retail  business, 
they  also  supply  nearly  all  the  furnishing 
goo'ds  sold  by  the  wholesale  dry  goods  and 
clothing  houses  in  Chicago  and  the  West. 
Large  consignments  are  also  sent  to  the 
Eastern  and  Canadian  cities.  Manitoba  is 
becoming  an  important  customer,  and  within 
the  past  twelve  months  a  fair  number  of 
orders  were  sent  to  Mexico  and  Central 
America,  and  advices  from  those  countries 
justify  predictions  of  a  large  increase  in  sales 
in  that  direction  the  coming  year.  Jobbers 
say  that  owing  to  the  strong  com- 
petition from  Eastern  houses  wno 
were  overstocked  with  hoseries  and  knit 
underwear  which  they  were  compelled  to 
work  off,  in  addition  to  the  low  prices 
made  by  Chicago  houses  in  other  branches  of 
trade,  who,  as  already  stated,  handle  such 
goods  as  collateral  lines  and  who  were  in- 
clined to  supply  tlieir  customers  with  all  ar- 
ticles called  for,  the  year's  business,  al- 
though showing  a  liberal  increase  in  volume, 
has  not  been  as  remunerative  as  desired,  yet 
there  is  no  complaint  of  losses.  The  other 
branches  of  the  trade,  including  all  articles 
manufactured  here,  show  a  very  liberal 
increase  in  sales  and  the  business  has  also 
been  fairly  satisfactory,  and  the  year  closes 
with  less  than  the  customary  stock  to  be 
carried  over.  Prices  are  also  down  where 
further  losses  from  shrinkage  will  of  neces- 
sity be  very  small  and  the  general  situation 
healthy.  Retailers'  stocks  in  most  parts  of 
the  country  are  also  low,  which  encourages 
dealers  to  look  for  a  fairly  active  spring  de- 
mand. 

HATS,    CAPS,    AND    BUCK    QOODS. 

NOT  SATISFACTORY. 

This  branch  of  the  jobbing  trade  has 
suffered  to  a  considerable  extent  from  the 
same  unfavorable  causes  that  effected 
nearly  all  leading  lines  of  business.  The 
slackness  of  demand  as  compared  -with 
stocks  also  rendered  dealers  anxious  to  sell, 
and  houses  which  held  more  goods  than  they 
were  able  to  carry  with  ease  have  shown  a 
disposition  to  force  them  off.  In  order  to  do 
this  they  too  frequently  made  sales  at  the 
expense  of  profits.  Dealers  in  the  same  line 
of  goods  in  other  cities  also  made  strong 
efforts  to  secure  custom  from  Chicago  terri- 
tory, and  in  many  instances  offered  goods  at 
less  than  cost.  As  a  consequence  the  most 
conservative  and  strongest  houses  in  the 
city  had  to  choose  between  losing  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  their  trade  or  meet  such 
competition  regardless  of  present  remun- 
eration. It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that 
they  were  not  inclined  to  part  with  their 
trade,  knowing  as  they  did  that  the  abuses 
practiced  by  weak  and  reckless  houses 
would  in  time  bring  their  own  cure.  But  in 
spite  of  the  many  adverse  conditions  against 
which  jobbers  had  to  contend,  they  have,  by 
canvassing  new  territory,  been  enabled  to 
maintain  their  previous  average  volume  of 
business,  and,  by  buying  close  and  being  in  a 
position  to  discount  a  large  percentage  of 
their  purchases,  conservative  houses  have  at 
least  made  a  fair  interest  on  their  capital 


The  anxiety  to  sell,  as  above  stated,  has  also 
brought  some  compensation  to  those  who 
were  sufficiently  strong  to  stana  the  ordeal, 
as  the  liquidating  process  has  reduced  stocks 
to  a  minimum,  and  the  new  year  will  open 
with  more  favorable  auspices  to  prudent 
houses.  There  is  also  encouragement  in  the 
fact  that  the  retail  traders  are  meeting  their 
bills  with  more  than  ordinary  punctuality, 
and  many  of  them  are  availing  themselves  of 
the  discounts  allowed  t  >  cash  buyers.  The 
number  of  houses  in  the  jobbing  business  is 
the  same  as  at  the  opening  of  the  year,  the 
retirement  of  the  firm  that  failed  being  re- 
placed by  a  new  one.  During  the  year  there 
was  a  very  considerable  increase  in  the 
manufacture  of  buck  goods,  which  is  becom- 
ing an  important  feature  of  industry,  a  large 
percentage  of  the  skins  walked  up  being 
dressed  or  tanned  here. 

BOOTS    AND    SHOES. 

GBATIFTING  RESULTS. 

A  canvass  among  manufacturers  and  job- 
bers of  boots  and  shoes  discovers  that,  while 
the  business  both  from  the  general 
mercantile  depression  that  affected  all  lead- 
ing interests  and  failures  in  the  leather  trade, 
which,  for  a  time  at  least,  rendered  buyors  of 
manufactured  goods  exceedingly  cautious  in 
their  purchases,  the  year's  business  shows 
fairly  gratifying  results  as  regards  the 
volume  of  goods  turned  out  All  the  leading 
manufacturers  report  an  enlargement  in  the 
output  of  their  establishments.  The  increase 
in  the  variety  of  goods  made  has  also  been 
more  marked  than  in  the  quantity.  In  the 
earlier  days  of  the  industry  Chicago  manu- 
facturers mainly  confined  their  products  to 
heavy  work,  and  nearly  all  the  better  and  finer 
classes  of  boots  and  shoes  sold  here  came 
from  Eastern  factories,  where  the  class  of 
skilled  labor  adapted  to  their  production 
was  in  better  supply  than  in  the  West. 
The  past  five  years,  however,  have  brought 
great  changes  in  the  quality  of  the  goods 
made,  and  in  no  preceding  year  has  the  ad- 
vance in  hign-grade  work  been  so  marked  as 
during  the  one  just  closing.  Not  only  were 
the  factories  in  which  they  were  a  specialty 
materially  enlarged,  but  new  ones  have  been 
built,  and  at  present  Chicago  contains  some 
of  the  largest  and  best-appointed  establish- 
ments of  this  kind  in  the  country.  The  ctiief 
factors  which  have  given,  and  must  continue 
to  give,  this  city  an  advantage  over  all  otners 
for  the  production  and  sale  of  boots  and 
shoes  are  the  low  cost  at  which  goods  can  be 
made  and  distributed.  Being  the  largest  tan- 
ning point  on  the  continent,  the  leather  can 
be  delivered  to  the  factories  without  charge 
for  freight,  and  the  goods  shipped  direct  to 
all  parts  of  the  country.  These  charges, 
•which  alone  constitute  a  fair  profit,  must 
be  borne  by  manufacturers  and  job- 
bers in  other  cities.  Hence  it  is 
evident  that  they  are  at  a  great  disadvantage 
when  brought  in  competition  with  Chicago 
makers  and  dealers.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to 
look  furthur  to  find  the  causes  which  have 
transferred  the  jobbing  business  in  such  goods 
from  the  East  to  this  city,  and  in  a  little  over 
a  score  of  years  from  the  date  of  the  opening 
of  the  first  factory,  have  made  it  one  of  the 
leading  manufacturing  centers  on  the  conti- 
nent for  such  goods.  But  rapid  as  nas  been 
the  increase  of  production  within  the  brief 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


153 


period  mentioned,  it  has  not  been  sufficient 
to  keep  pace  with  the  expansion  of  the  dis- 
tributing trade,  and  Chicago  jobbers  are  still 
the  largest  buyers  at  the  New  England 
factories.  The  leading  houses  report  the 
year  closing  with  only  moderate  stocks  on 
hand;  the  volume  of  unreasonable  goods 
to  be  carried  over  is  small,  and  likely 
as  all  the  stock  now  in  their 
warehouses  and  factories  was  produced 
at  such  very  low  cose  that  a  further  depreci- 
ation is  scarcely  possible,  the  prospects  for 
the  incoming  year  are  fairly  encouraging. 
Dealers  are  not  likely  to  suffer  further  losses 
from  a  shrinkage  in  'prices  of  materials.  The 
heavy  failures  that  occurred  in  other  sec- 
tions of  the  country  during  the  past  year 
have  aaso  freed  those  who  desire  to  do  a  'safe 
and  remunerative  business  from  the  compe- 
tition of  reckless  firms  who  buy  without 
judgment,  and  ara  in  time  compelled  to 
force  goods  on  customers  without  reference 
to  profits.  The  prospective  improvement  in 
the  leather  trade  will  likewise  prove  benefi- 
cial to  those  who  handle  •  manu- 
factured goods;  and  although  nothing 
more  than  a  fair  average  business  is  pre- 
dicted, there  is  a  fairly  confident  feeling 
that  the  dawn  of  a  more  prosperous  period  is 
not  distant 

The  sales  of  rubber  goods,  which  constitute 
a  collateral  branch  of  the  shoe  trade,  show  a 
slight  increase  in  the  volume  compared  with 
1882,  the  sales  of  some  establishments  show- 
ing a  gain  of  20  per  cent,  while  with  ot  .ers 
it  was  very  small  The  profits,  as  in  other 
lines  of  trade,  were  also  close,  as  the  com- 
petition between  Eastern  and  Chicago  houses 
was  very  sharp.  On  the  whole,  however,  the 
year's  business  was  not  unsatisfactory. 

LEATHER. 

NOT  A   SATISFACTORY   SHOWING. 

Although  Chicago  tanners  and  leather 
dealers  have  suffered  less  than  those  of  any 
other  leading  market  in  the  country,  *he  re- 
sult of  the  year's  business  has  been  far  from 
satisfactory.  Jobbers  say  their  patrons,  who 
are  mainly  makers  of  custom  goods,  are  be- 
ing driven  out  of  trade  bv  the  enlarged  pro- 
uction  and  betterment  of  quality  of  factory 
made  boots,  shoes,  and  other  articles  of 
leather  goods,  in  the  construction  of  which 
machinery  is  largely  used,  and  which  are 
sold  much  cheaper  than  they  can  be  produced 
in  the  small  shops  by  hand.  Hence  the  job- 
bing trade  in  leather  is  steadily  on  the  de 
cline,  and  profits  suffer  a  diminution.  The 
current  year's  business  of  tanners  and  dress- 
ers has  also  been  severely  affected  by  heavy 
failures  in  the  leather  trade  in  nearly  every 
large  city  in  the  country  outside  of  Chicago. 
The  forcing  of  liquidation  by  such  firms* 
caused  a  shrinkage  in  values  of  stock  on 
hand,  and  rendered  it  difficult  for 
those  who  were  not  sufficiently  strong 
financially  to  take  every  advantage  of  the 
market  and  buy  raw  materials  at  tlie  lowest 
cash  prices  to  make  even  a  fair  rate  of  inter- 
est Tne  unhealthy  situation  has  also  been 
aggravated  by  an  increase  in  the  cost  of  do- 
ing business,  as  it  has  required  greater  exer- 
tions to  sell  an  equal  amount  of  goods  with 
previous  years.  The  fact,  however,  that  no 
failures  of  consequence  have  occurred  among 
our  leading  establishments  justifies  the  state- 


ment that  although  the  year's  business  has 
not  been  as  profitable  as  desired,  it  has  been 
conducted  on  sound  and  conservative  princi- 
ples, and  as  the  now  year  will  open  with 
moderate  stocks  and  prices  down  where  no 
further  decline  oi:  any  consequence  is  scarcelv 
possible,  the  outlook  for  the  near  future  is 
not  without  features  of  encouragement. 

CHICAGO'S  ADVANTAGES. 
In  the  previous  year's  review  of  the  tan- 
ning interest,  THE  INTER  OCEAN  took  occasion 
to  refer  to  the  advantages  which 
Chicago  possessed  for  concentrating  the 
hides,  bark,  and  all  other  articles  or'  raw 
materiarwhich  enter  as  factors  into  the  pro- 
duction of  leather  at  lower  cost  than  they 
could  be  brought  together  at  any  other  point 
mthiscountry,andin  addition  to  its  being  the 
center  of  a  large  manufacturing  and  jobbing 
interest,  gave  its  tanners  facilities  for  con- 
ducting their  business  that  were  not  enjoyed 
by  those  in  the  same  line  in  other  parts  of 
the  country  The  statement  then  made  has 
been  strongly  sustained  by  the  fact  that  nob- 
withstanding  the  leather  trade  has  passed 
through  one  of  the  most  trying  periods 
in  its  history  very  few  failures  "have  occured 
here,  and  they  were  of  little  consequence, 
whereas  many  of  the  largest  and  heretofore 
strongest  houses  at  other  points  have  been 
unable  to  stem  tne  adverse  tide  with  which 
the  tanning  and  jobbing  interest  has  had  to 
contend  from  the'  opening  to  the  close  of  the 
year.  In  addition  to  the  superiority  of 
location  a  majority  of  Chicago  "tan- 
ners have  been  brousrht  up  to  '.  the 
business  and  know  all  its  details,  from  select 
ing  the  raw  hides  and  tanning  materials  ot 
finishing  the  leather  and  keeping  their  cheek 
books.  They  are  also  equally  notjd 
for  their  extreme  conservatism.  These 
qualifications  have  enabled  them  to  keep 
their  affairs  in  good  shape,  while  those  who 
were  less  favorably  located  or  not  so  well 
drilled  in  the  details  of  the  business  were 
driven  to  the  wall. 

SOME  ENORMOUS  FIGURES. 

The  extent  of  the  business  conducted  here 
may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  there  are 
four  large  sole  and  nine  upper  leather  tan- 
neries here,  with  an  aggregate  annual  pro- 
duction of  6,000,000  pounds  of  sole  and 
3,500,000  upper  leather.  In  addition,  675,- 
000  calf  skins  are  tanned,  about  225,000  of 
which  are  imported  from  France,  Germany. 
Belgium  and  Holland.  There  are  also  a  num- 
ber of  smaller  tanneries,  where  considerable 
quantities  of  various  grades  of  sole  and  othei 
leather  are  made.  The  tanning  of  sheep,  deer 
and  other  skins  is  also  conducted  on  a  very 
extensive  sale  and  the  product  converted  into 
goods. 

Chicago  capital  is  likewise  largely  interested 
in  tanneries  in  Wisconsin,  Michigan,  and  In- 
diana. As  a  large  amount  of  the  supplies  for 
such  establishments  are  bought  in  Chicago 
and  their  products  sold  here,  they  virtually 
constitute  a  portion  of  this  city's  leather  in- 
dustry. In  point  of  quality  Chicago  leather 
ranks  "A  No.  1."  This  is  especially  the  case 
with  sole,  which  is  almost  exclusively  made 
from  hides  of  Texas  steers,  which  make  a 
firmer  and  in  every  respect  finer  and  more 
durable  leather  than  any  other  m  the  world. 
They  also  cut  to  excellect  advantage.  The 
mos't  popular  hides  for  harness  leather  are 
from  domestic  steers ;  the  large  number  of 
those  animals  slaughtered  here  gives  tan- 
ners their  choice,  and  they  have  equal  ad- 
vantages in  securing  the  best  selections  of 
cow  and  heifer  hides  from  which  the  best  up- 


154 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


per  leather  used  for  boots  and  shoes  is  made. 
Chicago  calf  skins,  like  its  sole  leather,  have 
a  reputation  second  to  none,  being  finer, 
more  plump  and  uniform,  and  they  cut  to 
better  advantage  than  the  famous  French 
calf.  But,  as  there  is  still  a  certain  class  of 
customers  who  think  there  is  nothing  so  good 
as  a  foreign  article,  such  people  must  neces- 
sarily have  French  goods,  or  at  least  what 
they'suppose  comes  from  France.  Such  was 
formerly  the  opinion  with  regard  to  South 
American  hides  for  sole  leather,  until,  after 
years  of  hard  work,  tanners  succeeded  in 
convincing  the  most  prejudiced  that  Texas 
steers  furnished  a  better  material  for  the 
purpose.  The  principal  agent  employed  by 
Chicago  tanners  is  hemlock  bark,  oak  and 
other  materials  being  used  to  a  moderate  ex- 
tent by  some  establishments  who  turn  out 
special  lines  of  goods.  Formerly  a  large 
amount  of  the  upper  and  harness 
leather  tanned  here  was  sent  East  to 
be  finished  and  again  brought  West  for 
sale,  but  at  present  the  leather  is 
both  tanned  and  finished  here,  and  the  cost 
of  transportation  to  the  East  and  back  is 
saved  to  the  consumer;  the  finishing  also 
largely  contributes  to  Chicago's  industrial 
interests. 

RESULTS   OF  THE  DEPRESSION. 

The  general  depression  in  the  trade,  as 
noted  above,  materially  affected  the  sales  of 
tanners,  who  estimate  a  reduction  of  15  per 
cent  in  the  amount  of  their  year's  transac- 
tions, about  7*2  per  cent  of  which  was  due  to 
a  depreciation  in  the  price  of  goods,  some 
lines  being  5  per  cent  and  others  full  10  per 
cent  below  the  average  in  1882.  The  un- 
favorable outlook  during  the  early  part  of 
the  year  induced  great  conservatism  among 
a  majority  of  Ciiicago  tanners,  and  as  raw 
hides  were  relatively  higher  than  leather 
there  was  a  strong  tendency  to  reduce  the 
amount  of  hides  put  down,  wMcn  resulted 
in  a  reduction  of  15  per  cent  in  the  volume 
of  stock  produced.  The  chief  decline  in  pro- 
duct was  in  finished  uppers.  At  present 
tanners  are  working1  with  more  than  ordinary 
caution ;  current  stocks  are  full  15  per  cent 
less  tlian  at  this  date  last  year.  It  is  con- 
ceded by  those  best  informed  that  the  out- 
put of  the  tanneries  for  the  next  six  months 
will  be  much  less  than  during  the  first  half 
of  1883.  The  production  at  other  leading 
points  also  promises  to  be  correspondingly 
light,  while  the  consumption  promises  to  be- 
as  good  or  better  than  for  the  year  just 
closed.  Hence  there  are  substantial  reasons 
for  predicting  a  fairly  active  and  more  re- 
munerative business  during  the  incoming 
year.  The  situation  is  also  improved  by  the 
fact  that  the  disastrous  condition  of  the 
leather  trade  during  the  past  twelve  months 
has  weeded  out  a  majoritv  af  the  imprudent 
concerns,  and  left  the  trade  in  stronger  and 
competent  hands,  who  will  not  sacrifice 
profits  merely  for  the  sake  of  swelling  the 
volume  of  their  transactiona 

HARNESS. 

HARNESS  AND  SADDLERY  HARDWARE,  ETC. 

The  harness  business  during  the  past  year 
was  pushed  from  the  opening  to  the  close, 
and  sales  were  consequently  heavier  than  in 
previous  years.  Jobbers  and  manufacturers 
carried  larger  and  better  stocks  than  form- 
erly, as  the  call  was  chiefly  for  the  best 
makes,  but  as  they  handled  everything  from 
the  common  $10  harness  to  the  iancy  $500 


of  American  and  foreign  manufacture,  they 
were  able  to  suit  all  classes  of  buyers.  Prices 
ranged  about  the  same  as  in  the  previous 
year  for  standard  makes,  but  common  lower. 
Saddles  met  a  larger  demand  than  formerlv, 
but  no  special  change  could  be  noted  in 
prices.  All  other  articles,  such  as  whips, 
boots,  pads,  etc.,  met  a  good  sale,  but  no 
particular  alteration  was  made  in  values.  In 
harness  and  saddlery  hardware  a  liberal 
trade  was  enjoyed,  but  jobbers  were  more 
conservative,  and  felt  satisfied  with  the  ex- 
tent of  territory  already  covered,  and  pre- 
ferred to  keep  that  well  in  hand  than  to  have 
their  business  scattered  over  a  large  space  of 
country  that  could  not  be  controlled  as 
easily.  Therefore  they  employed  fewer 
traveling  men,  and  sales  fell  about  2^ -to  5 
per  cent  under  those  of  1882.  Good  stocks 
were  carried.  Prices  were  steadier,  and 
ranged  a  trifle  higher.  Profits  were  fair  and 
business  more  satisfactory,  as  goods  did 
not  have  to  be  sold  on  a  weak  and  declining 
market  as  in  1882. 

GROCERIES. 

CABEFUL  BUYING   AND    CLOSE    BELLING. 

This  branch  of  trade  has  shown  very  few 
features  of  special  interest  throughout  the 
year.  Dealers  in  the  interior  were  exceed- 
ingly conservative  in  buying,  'and  never  be- 
fore in  the  history  of  the  trade  were  goods 
ordered  so  directly  in  reference  to  immediate 
necessities  as  during  the  twelve  months  just 
drawing  to  a  close.  Among  Chicago  jobbers 
the  disposition  to  move  cautiously  and  carry 
stocks  "in  conformity  with  current  sales  was 
equally  marked.  This  caution  was  no  less 
the  outgrowth  of  the  reserve  exhibited  by 
retailers  than  the  recollections  of  the  very 
unsatisfactory  reeult  of  the  previous  year's 
business  and  the  frequency  with  which  large 
failures  were  reported  in  other  lines  of  busi- 
ness. Despite,  however,  of  the  conservatism 
shown  by  both  jobbers  and  retailers,  the 
sales  are  estimated  to  exceed  those  of 
the  year  immediately  preceding.  The  gain, 
however,  was  not  the  result  of  an  increased 
consumption,  per  capita  of  population,  but 
to  a  larger  influx  of  emigration  into  the  ter- 
ritory which  draws  the  bulk  of  its  supplies 
from  here,  and  a  material  enlargement  of 
the  previous  area.  The  extension  of  the 
railroad  system  has  attracted  buyers  here 
that  were  previously  debarred  by  an  ab- 
sence of  transportation  facilities.  The 
profits,  however,  have  not  been  commen- 
surate to  the  volume  of  goods  distributed. 
This  was  partly  attributable  to  the  close 
competition  among  dealers,  many  of  whom 
were  anxious  to  secure  custom,  but  more 
largely  to  the  steady  shrinkag'e  in  values  of 
nearly  afi  lines  of  goods.  This  was  especially 
severe  on  houses  of  moderate  means,  and  it 
is  generally  conceded  that  the  only  concerns 
that  have  made  money  were  those  whose 
who,  owing  to  their  capital,  were  in  a  posi- 
tion to  discount  their  bills,  as  the  rebate  thus 
secured  not  unfrequently  exceeded  the  mar- 
gin between  the  prices  at  which  the  goods 
were  bought  and  sold.  The  adverse  condi- 
tions which  the  jobbing  trade  was  compelled 
to  contend  with  may  be  inferred  from  the 
fact  that  the  average  decline  on  all 
articles,  except  coffee,  which  was  dearer, 
is  estimated  at  12  to  15  per  cent. 
But  while  the  latter  article  shows 
a  higher  range  than  during  1882,  the  result 
of  the  year's  sales  was  unsatisfactory ;  as  the 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


156 


advance  was  due  to  the  manipulations  of 
speculators  at  the  East,  who  attempted  to 
"corner"  the  market  and  force  quotations  to 
a  high  point  in  the  face  of  large  stocks.  As 
is  the  general  rule  when  values  are  con- 
trolled by  such  influences,  prices  were  very 
irregular,  and  jobbers  being  unwilling-  to 
carry  large  stocks  while  prices  were  contin- 
gent on  the  whims  of  speculators,  whose  op- 
erations had  no  other  basis  than  their  finan- 
cial strength,  they  failed  to  derive  any  bene- 
fit from  the  frequent  up  movement  in  quota- 
tions. The  consumption  of  sugar  has  been 
large,  but  prices  lower,  and  goods  have  been 
handled  at  very  small  profit.  The  glucose 
trade  in  both  sugars  and  sirups  has  been  most 
disastrous  to  all  who  handled  them.  Large 
quantities  of  the  latter  soured  in  hands  of 
jobbers  and  retailers,  and  were  returned  to 
the  manufacturers.  The  dissatisfaction  tnus 
created  is  likely  to  result  in  a  refusal  of  many 
dealers  to  handle  it  on  any  terms  in  the  fu- 
ture. The  rapid  increase  in  the  production 
of  sorghum  sirups,  as  well  as  the  improve- 
ment in  their  quality,  is  causing  them  to  be 
more  generally  introduced  to  the 
grocery  trade  than  ever  be- 

fore. Considerable  advancement  haa 
also  been  made  in  sorghum  sugars,  and 
there  are  reasons  to  hope  that  they  will  soon 
become  an  important  factor  in  the  su^ar 
supply  of  the  country,  and  many  well-in- 
formed grocers  venture  the  prediction  that 
these  goods  will  soon  driv«  th«  fraudulent 
glucose  from  the  market  The  trade  in  teas 
has  been  large  both  in  volume  and  value, 
and  although  they,  like  other  leading  lines  of 
goods,  were  sold  at  small  margins,  the  busi- 
ness has  been  more  satisfactory.  This  was 
mainly  due  to  the  greater  steadiness  in 
prices  and  the  conservatism  of  dealers,  who, 
instead  of  carrying  large  stocks,  as  was  the 
case  in  former  years,  bought  more  closely  on 
the  principle  of  supplying  current  wants. 
The  establishment  by  the  government  of  a 
system  of  tea  inspection  did  much  toward 
restoring  and  maintaining  a  healthy  trade, 
as  it  checked  the  importation  of  low  and 
worthless  teas  that  were  previously  sold  by 
unprincipled  dealers  in  competition  with 
those  who  handled  genuine  goods.  The 
importation  of  teas  direct  from  the 
source  of  production  is  steadily 
increasing  with  the  other  business  of  the 
city  the  current  year's,  imports  being 
estimated  at  10,000.000  pounds,  or  150,000 
packages,  being  equivalent  to  a  little  over 
one-seventh  of  the  entire  importations  of  the 
whole  United  States.  The  goods  come  over- 
land via  San  Francisco,  hence  they  are  always 
fresher  and  better  than  those  subjected  to  a 
long  sea  voyage,  as  was  the  case  when  East- 
ern importers  had  entire  control  of  the  for- 
eign trade  in  such  goods.  All  the  leading 
Eastern  importers  also  have  agencies  here, 
hence  jobbers  buy  as  they  sell,  and  are  not 
compelled  to  hold  heavy  stocks,  as  their  sup- 
plies all  come  from  the  Atlantic  cities.  A 
majority  of  the  Western  and  Northwestern 
jobbers  also  buy  their  teas  of  Chicago  im- 
porters. 

The  sales  of  all  classes  of  miscellaneous 
groceries  to  the  Pacific  Coast  States  and  Ter- 
ritories were  materially  increased  within  the 
year,  and  jobbers  say  it  would  have  been 
much  heavier  were  it  not  for  the  exorbitant 
freight  charges  to  California  and  Nevada. 
The  late  period  at  which  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railroad  was  completed  prevented  a  thorough 
canvass  of  the  country  which  it  opened 
up  to  trade  from  this  city,  but  the  favor  with 


which  the  representatives  from  Chicago  were 
received  at  the  few  points  visited,  justifies 
jobbers  in  predicting  a  large  patronage  from 
there  next  year,  as  the  position  of  this  mar- 
ket gives  it  superior  advantages  over  all 
others  in  supplying  the  country  traversed  by 
or  tributary  to  the  Northern  Pacific  and  other 
Oregon  railroads.  There  has  also  been  a 
material  increase  in  the  volume  of  goods  sent 
to  the  neighboring  republic  of  Mexico,  a  lib- 
eral treaty  for  the  interchange  of  commodi- 
ties could  be  effected,  a  heavy  business  might 
be  built  up  witn  that  country.  Mexico  pro- 
duces very  few  articles  that  could  not  be  ad- 
mitted free  without  detriment  to  our  own  in- 
dustries, while  they  want  large  lines  of 
goods  that  we  are  only  too  glad  to  find  cus- 
tomers for. 

KANGE   OF  PBICES    FOB     COFFEES    AND    SUGARS. 

To  give  a  comprehensive  idea  of  the  prices, 
as  compared  with  the  two  preceding  years, 
we  annex  the  following  monthly  range  in  this 
maiket  for  fancy  Rio  coffee  and  granulated 
sugars: 

FANCY  BIO  COFFEES. 

1883.  1882.  1881. 

January  ......  lO^®!!^  IS^fgilS^  16    @16^ 

February  .....  11    ©1214  13i4@13i2  16    ©16^ 

March  ........  ll^IV^  1'^4@13^  15ig@16 

April  .........  Ili2@13  13i4@13^  15^@16 

May  ..........  12i2@13  12    (§12^  I.r.i2@16 

Jun«  ..........  12    @13  12    @12i<!  15    @15^ 

July  ..........  12    @1213  12    ©12^  15    @W^2 

August  .......  12    @12is  12    @12!2  14!s@15 

September.  ..12    @1'J%  12    @12^  15^@W 

October  ......  12is@133i  Ili2@12  15    ©15^ 

November.  ...13%®l4i2  Ili2@12  143t®15i« 

December.  ...13i2@14i2  11    ©ll1^  13%@14:14 

GBANULATED  SUGABS. 

1883.              1882.  1881. 

January  ......   9^  9^  95g@  9%  101fi@1014 

February  _____    9*8®  9^  ....@  958  978@10 

March  ........   9*4®  9*2  ....@  959  9%®  97a 

April  ..........   9*8®  9%  .  ..@  97s  978@10 

May  ..........   914®  938  10    ©10*8  97s@10 

June  ..........   9*8®  9=%  ....@10  ll^®!!^ 

July  ..........   9!s@  9:%  10    ©10*8  10%®  10^8 

Aupust  .......   9    @  9*4  978@10  1014@1038 

September..  .   9*8®  9*4  95g@  9% 

October  ......    9    @  9^8  978@10 

November....    8=8®  9  ....@  958 

December..  ..   SSg®  8^  ....@  9^  ....@10 


FANCY    GROCERIES. 

,TThe  trade  in  all  these  articles  has  reached 
such  proportions  that  it  is  necessary  to 
classify  them  by  themselves.  The  demand 
for  all  descriptions,  such  as  raisins,  prunes, 
farinaceous  goods,  and  table  delicacies  was 
larger  than  for  any  previous  year,  but  the 
aggregate  volume  of  sales  was  about  the 
same  as  during  1882,  on  account  of  prices 
ruling  lower.  Heavier  stocks  were  carried 
by  jobbers  Here  and  at  ail  the  Western  river 
points,  who  have  become  so  strong  finan- 
cially that  they  now  order  many  of 
their  goods  direct  from  the  East,  and 
thereby  save  the  profit  formerly  paid 
the  Chicago  jobbers  and  importers,  and 
obtain  about  as  cheap  a  rate  of  freight  as 
they  can  get  from  here.  This  has  greatly  in- 
creased the  competition  for  the  control  of 
the  Western  trade,  and  reduced  the  margin 
of  profit  to  a  very  small  figure,  but  Chicago 
merchants  still  manage  to  hold  the  bulk  of 
the  business,  and  were  satisfied  with  their 
year's  sales.  Farinaceous  goods,  such  as  oat 
meal,  cracked  wheat,  pearl  barley,  etc.,  were 
freely  called  for,  and  sales  increased  about 
15  per  cent  over  those  of  the  previous  year. 
Prices  ranged  lower,  and  closed  at  the  inside, 
with  liberal  stocks.  Raisins  were  purchased 


156 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUEY. 


in  pood  quantities.  The  crop  was  heavier 
than  in  1881  and  1882,  and  of  fine  quality; 
less  old  stock  was  carried  over,  but  there  was 
no  time  during  the  year  that  all  orders  could 
not  be  tilled  promptly.  Prices  of  layers 
ranged  irom  $2  to  $2.  Go  per  box,  opening1  at 
$2. 1O,  and  closing  ac  $2.00.  Valencia  sold 
at  7c  to  lOc  per  pouud,  the  opening  price 
being  9c,  and  closed  rather  weak,  with 
good  stocks  at  8c.  Prunes  were 
taken  more  liberally  than  in  any  former 
year.  The  crop  was  one  of  the  heaviest  on 
record  and  quality  up  to  the  average,  but 
size  small.  The  importations  were  unusually 
large  and  sold  at  l(o)l !oc  lower  than  tor  many 
years.  The  consumption  was  increased  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  call  for  apples  and 
peaches  was  reduced,  as  prunes  were  pre- 
ferred at  the  low  prices,  but  should  an  ad- 
vance occur  it  would  have  a  tendency  to 
check  the  demand.  Currants  were  taken  in 
about  the  usual  amounts.  The  crop  this  year 
was  large,  but  on  account  of  the  heavy  rains 
was  badly  damaged,  which  created  a  firmer 
market  during  the  early  part  of  the  season. 
The  first  arrivals  of  new  brought  higher 
prices,  but  the  advance  was  not  maintained, 
and  prices  declined  ^c  per  pound  near  the 
close.  Nuts  of  all  descriptions  were  taken 
freely,  but  no  new  features  in  the  trade  were 
developed.  The  old  crop  of  peanuts  were 
disposed  of  at  good  prices,  but  the  new  crop 
being  heavy  sales  had  to  be  made  at  reduced 
figures.  Almonds  ruled  firm,  as  the  crop  was 
small.  Filberts  and  Brazil  nuts  were 
stronger  and  higher  than  for  years,  the  qual- 
ity of  the  latter  being  very  poor,  and  caused 
considerable  dissatisfaction  among  dealers. 
Prices  were  forced  up  4c  per  pound.  Sales 
of  California  dried  fruits  were  large,  as  the 
qualitv  was  fine,  but  on  account  of  the  high 
prices  asked  there  was  not  as  heavy  an  in- 
crease as  there  was  in  foreign,  as  they  were 
sold  cheaper. 

CANNED  GOODS. 

THE   CANNING   BUSINESS 

in  all  sections  of  the  country  has  been  on  the 
increase  for  years,  and  has  become  a  very  im- 
portant industry,  but  during  the  year  under 
re  view  the  growth  of  the  canneries  was  larger 
than  the  growth  of  the  trade  warranted,  and 
the  result  has  been  a  year  of  depression  and 
dissatisfaction  both  to  canners  and  jobbers. 
The  over  production  of  all  except  small 
fruits  caused  large  lots  that  were  held  by 
speculators  and  weak  jobbers  to  be  thrown 
on  the  market,  and  prices  were  forced  down 
to  a  lower  figure  than  at  any  former  period 
in  the  history  of  the  trade.  Goods  were  sold 
for  less  than  it  cost  to  produce  them,  and  the 
result  was  that  a  number  of  smaJl  concerns 
were  obliged  to  suspend  operations.  The 
low  prices,  however,  had  a  very  beneficial 
effect  on  the  consumption,  which  was  larger 
than  in  former  years,  as  the  poorer  classes 
were  enabled  to  secure  them  cheaper  than 
they  could  the  green  fruit  or  vegetables.  The 
quality  of  the  canning  this  year  was  un- 
usually good.  The  unsettled  condition  of 
all  other  branches  of  trade  had  its  effect  on 
this  line,  and  notwithstanding  the  low  prices 
realized  on  all  sroods  buyers  were  very  cau- 
tious and  limited  their  purchases  to  current 
wants.  Prices  of  tomatoes  in  3-pound 
cans  declined  from  $1. 15  per  dozen  to  i)0  to 
95c.  and  of  corn  in  2-pound  cans  from  $1.15 
to  85c.  Very  little  alteration  was  made  in 
the  price  of  small  fruits.  In  California 


canned  goods  there  was  not  so  much  de- 
pression noted  as  in  the  trade  of  the  near-by 
production.  Sales  increased  10  to  15  per 
cent  over  those  of  1882.  notwithstanding 
the  fact  that  many  of  the  large  Western  job- 
bers who  formerly  purchased  their  stock  of 
dealers  here  have  become  more  independent 
and  ordered  them  direct  from  the  factory, 
thereby  cutting  off  eonsiderable  business 
that  previously  came  here.  The  amount  of 
fruit  canned  in  California  the  past  season 
was  larger  than  that  of  the  preceding  year, 
and  the  quality  very  fine.  Prices  of  apricots 
ranged  25  per  cent  lower  than  in  1882,  and 
of  plums  the  same  amount  higher,  while 
peaches  and  pears  remained  steady.  No 
strawberries  were  canned  this  year,  on  ac- 
count of  the  light  crop,  and  the  little  stock 
carried  over  from  last  year  was  sold 
early  in  the  season.  The  trade  in  Cal- 
ifornia salmon  was  larger;  the  amount 
canned  exceded  that  of  any  former  year. 
Prices  ruled  25  per  cent  lower,  which  had 
the  effect  of  putting  it  into  markets  where  it 
was  never  handled  before,  and  at  such  low 
prices  that  the  consumption  was  greatly  in- 
creased. Jobbers  carried  good  stocks',  but 
not  any  larger  than  in  previous  years.  Sales 
of  No.  1  goods  ranged  during  the  year  at 
$1.'271<>  to  $1.55  per  doz.  and  closed  at 


TOBACCO  AND  CIGARS. 

EARLY    DOUBT  AND  UNCERTAINTY. 

The  uncertainty  as  to  the  action  of  Con- 
gress regarding  a  proposed  reduction  of  in- 
ternal tax  on  tobacco  caused  an  uneasy  feel- 
ing among  the  trade  at  the  opening  of  the 
year,  as  neither  jobbers  nor  retailers  were 
willing  to  buy  stock  while  prices  were  likely 
to  be  instantly  and  largely  reduced  by  legis- 
lation. As  a  consequence  business  during  the 
first  four  months  was  slow  and  unsatisfact- 
ory, dealers  merely  buying  in  sufficient 
quantities  to  supply  current  wants.  But  the 
final  uassage  of  the  bill,  making  a  reduction 
of  8  cents  per  pound  on  tobacco,  and  $3  per 
X,000  on  cigars,  which  went  into  effect  May 
1,  imparted  confidence  among  all  classes  or" 
dealers,  and  from  that  date  to  the 
close  of  the  year  trade  in 
all  lines  of  goods  was  brisk,  and 
the  consumption  larger.  Jobbers  estimate 
an  average  increase  of  15  per  cent  over  the 
trade  of  the  preceding  year.  There  was  also 
a  material  gain  in  the  production  of  all  classes 
of  goods  in  Chicago,  and  especially  of  plug 
tobacco,  the  manufacture  of  which  has  un- 
dergone a  large  expansion.  These  goods  are 
being  shipped 

TO  ALI-i  PARTS   OF  THE    COUNTRY, 

and  meet  with  favor  wherever  introduced. 
There  has  also  been  a  material  increase  in 
the  shipment-;  of  tine  cut  tobacco  to  the 
Middle  and  Eastetn  At  antic  States,  while 
all  classes  of  goods  have  met  with  a 
much  larger  demand  from  Southwestern 
and  Northwestern  States  and  Terri- 
tories. and  the  countries  on  the 
Pacific  coast.  The  general  result  of  the  year's 
business  has  been  more  satisfactory  than  in 
1882,  and  both  the  manufacturing  and  job- 
bing houses  are  regarded  as  in  good  condi- 
tion. 

The  cigar  trade  was  influenced  by  the  same 
causes  that  affected  tobacco,  but  like  that 
article  the  trade  shows  a  very  considerable 
increase  in  the  volume  of  poods  s  ,ld  ami  ex- 
tent of  country  to  which  they  were  dist  lib- 
uted.  It  is  generally  conceded,  however, 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURA. 


157 


that  the  benefit  which  jobbers  and  manu- 
facturers expected  to  derive  from  the  reduc- 
tion on  the  internal  tax  was  only  partly  re- 
alized, the 

STRONG   COMPETITION  AMONG  DEALERS 

and  their  anxiety  to  secure  trade  not  unfre- 
quently  inducing1  them  to  give  retail  buyers 
a  very  large  percentage,  and  not  unfre- 
quently  the  entire  advantage  of  reduced  tax 

FISH  AND  OYSTERS. 

SALT  FISH. 

The  fish  trade  of  Chicago  is  gradually 
growing  in  importance,  and  is  now  of  such 
volume  as  to  attract  marked  attention.  The 
salt  fish  branch  of  the  business  is  represented 
by  six  houses,  who  make  a  specialty  of  it. 
They  have  a  combined  capital  of  about  $450,- 
000  invested,  ana  their  aggregate  sales 
reached  $2,000,000  during  the  "year  just 
closed — about  equal  to  those  of  the  year  pre- 
ceding. The  volume  of  business  was  not  so 
large,  as  the  consumption  was  not  so  heavy, 
on  account  of  prices  ruling  higher  than  in 
many  years,  due  to  the  small  catch  of  the 
various  descriptions.  Dealers  made  a  strong 
effort  to  extend  their  trade,  and  goods  were 
sold  over  a  larger  territory,  the  gain  be- 
ing1 mainly  in  Minnesota,  Dakota, 
the  Canadian  Provinces,  and  in 
the  Southwest.  More  fish  were  sold 
also  sold  in  the  country  previously  supplied, 
as  the  population  is  increasing.  Dealers  have 
carried  fair  stocks,  but  the  majority  of  the 
time  the  supply  was  closely  adjusted  to  the 
demand.  At  the  close,  however,  there  was 
a  liberal  supply  for  the  requirements  until 
the  opening  of  next  season.  .About  the  only 
fault  dealers  had  to  find  with  the  year's  busi- 
ness was  the  small  margin  of  profit  on  which 
goods  had  to  be  handled.  The  trade,  how- 
ever, was  in  a  healthy  condition,  and  no  fail- 
ure of  a  strictly  fish  dealer  was  recorded. 

MACKEREL  AND   COD. 

Tne  catch  of  mackerel  on  the  New  England 
coast  the  past  season  was  the  smallest  in 
fifteen  years,  being  estimated  at  250,000 
barrels,  against  378.803  barrels  in  1882. 
The  quality  of  the  early  catch  was  poor,  but 
of  the  late 'better  than  the  average.  Prices 
ranged  higher  than  for  years.  No.  1  opened 
at  $15  per  barrel,  and  in  August  commenced 
to  advance,  and  during  October  reached  $24, 
and  closed  firm  at  that  price.  Family  mack- 
erel was  taken  more  freely  than  the  Higher 
grades  on  account  of  the  extreme  prices 
asked.  No.  1  opened  in  January  at  $9. 50 
per  barrel, declined  in  Julv  to  $S.  but  when  the 
shortage  in  the  catch  became  known, 
sold  up  to  $12,  which  was  the  highest  price 
reached  in  this  market  for  many  years. 

The  catch  of  cod  was  heavier  than  that  of 
former  years,  and  the  consumption  was 
larger.  George's  bank  opened  at  $7 .50  per 
100  pounds,  declined  in  June  to  $0.75,  ad- 
vanced in  September  to  $7.25,  but  closed  at 
17,  with  good  stocks  on  hand 

HERRING    AND   SARDINES. 

Herring  were  caught  in  greater  numbers 
than  usual.  The  catch  of  Labrador  is  esti- 
mated at  60,000  barrels,  an  increase  of  nearly 
20,000  barrels  over  1882.  That  of  Portland 
shore  herring,  however,  was  a  failure  early, 
but  large  enough  lately  to  cover  the  defi- 
ciency. The  quality  was  good,  but  of  small 
size.  The  consumption  was  larger,  especially 
among  the  foreign  population.  Prices  of 
Labrador  ranged  $1  to  $1.50  per  barrel  less 
than  the  previous  year,  and  of  Portland  shore 
about  50  cents  less.  Halifax  split  herring 


were  taken  freely,  but  no  particular  change 
could  be  noted  in  prices.  Scaled  and  smoked 
herring  were  in  small  supply  during  the 
summer  months,  as  large  quantities  of  them 
were  used  in  the  sardine  factories,  where  they 
were  put  up  as  American  sardines,  and  price's 
advanced  from  25  cents  to  33  cents.  An  in- 
crease in  the  stock  toward  the  close  of  the 
vear  caused  a  reaction  and  prices  declined  to 
25  cents  at  the  close.  The  importations  of 
Norway  herring  were  20  per  cent  larger  than 
in  former  years,  as  the  demand  for  them  is 
continually  growing.  Sales  were  almost  en- 
tirely to  foreigners,  who  paid  from  $13.5,0  to 
$14. 50  per  barrel  for  them.  Stockfish  sold 
freely,  and  15  per  cent  more  was  imported 
than  in  any  former  years. 

THE  LAKE  FISHERIES. 

The  fisheries  on  the  great  lakes  cut  an  im- 
portant figure  of  the  trade  of  the  Northwest, 
as  there  is  $1,345,975  capital  invested,  re- 
quiring 1,656  boats  and  5,050  fishermen, 
with  an  annual  catch  of  about  69,000.000 
pounds,  valued  at  $2,000,000. 

The  catch  of  family  whitefish  was  in- 
creased, and  prices  consequently  ruled  lower, 
declining  from  $4  50  per  half  barrel  to  $1. 50 
on  the  arrival  of  the  spring  catch,  and  ranged 
during  the  season  at  $1. 5O  to  $2.75,  and 
closed  with  fair  stocks  at  $2. 75.  While  the 
catch  of  family  whitefish  was  larger,  that  of 
No.  1  was  almost  a  total  failure  on  account 
of  the  stormy  weather  and  high  water,  which 
in  many  instances  destroyed  the  spawn. 
Very  little  of  the  catch,  however,  was  cured, 
as  it  went  into  freezers  for  the  fresh  fish  trade. 
Prices  opened  in  January  at  $7. 50  per  half 
barrel,  declined  in  July  to  $5.75  and  $6,  be- 
came firmer,  and  closed  at  $6.75,  with  very 
litble  stock  on  hand.  Trout  were  caught  in 
larger  numbers  than  usual  in  Lake  Superior 
and  small  streams  in  that  vicinity.  The 
quality  was  good,  but  the  consumption  of 
salted  less.  Sales  ranged  at  $4  to  $5. 50  per 
half  barrel,  opening  at  the  highest  and  clos- 
ing at  the  lowest.  Sales  of  salmon  were  10 
per  cent  less  than  in  past  years,  on  account 
of  the  catch  being  lighter  and  the  bulk  bsing 
taken  for  canning  purposes.  There  was  a 
large  demand,  however,  and  at  times  orders 
could  not  he  filled  promptly.  Early  in  the 
season  prices  advanced  $1  per  barrel,  out 
later  the  supply  was  larger,  and  a  decline  of 
$2  was  the  result,  closing  at  $17. 

FRESH  FISH  AND  OYSTERS. 

The  fresh  fish  and  oyster  trade  is  as  im- 
portant as  that  in  salt  fish,  and  is  steadily  in- 
creasing. All  varieties  of  fresh  fish,  from  the" 
little  shiner  to  the  Spanish  mackerel — that 
can  be  had  in  any  other  market  in  this  coun- 
try— is  purchaseable  of  dealers  here  in  season. 
The  most  important  branch  of  the  fresh  fish 
business,  however,  was  in  lake  fish,  chiefly 
whitefish  and  trout,  which  are  annually 
caught  in  large  numbers  in  Lake  Michigan 
and  Lake  Superior,  by  fishermen  in  the  em- 
ploy of  Chicago  dealers,  who  have  invested  a 
large  amount  of  capital  in  freezers,  or  ice 
houses,  into  which  the  fish  are  put  and  kept 
until  wanted  by  the  trade.  The  number 
of  whitefish  put  into  freezers  the  pa«t  season 
was  about  as  large  as  last  year.  The  busi- 
ness of  keeping  fish  in  freezers  is  yearly  in- 
creasing, and  dealers  look  for  a  diminution 
in  then  umber  cured,  unless  there  should 
be  an  unusually  large  catch,  waen 
an  increase  would  be  necessary. 
Prices  ranged  higher  than  in  previous  years. 
Whitefish  and  trout  sold  early  in  the  season 
at  7L2^,  but  advanced  in  the  fall  to  lOc  per 
pound. 


158 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


The  oyster  business  is  steadily  increasing-. 
The  regular  season  extends  from  Sept.  1  to 
May  1,  and  during1  that  time  more  than 
1 ,500,000  gallons  were  sold  in  this  city  and 
the  Northwest,  over  one-third  of  the  amount 
being  consumed  in  this  city.  The  rivalry 
among  the  different  oyster "  houses  was  so 
great  that  stock  was  sold  on  a  closer  margin 
than  in  any  former  year.  This  has  been  very 
severe  on  the  smaller  dealers,  who  found  it 
difficult  to  clear  much  more  than  expenses. 
Prices  ruled  about  the  same  as  in  the  pre- 
vious season. 

CHINA,   CROCKERY,  GLASSWARE. 

DECREASE  IN  IMPORTATION. 

The  meagerness  of  profits  in  nearly 
all  branches  of  commerce  and  industry  has 
caused  an  increased  economy  in  housekeep- 
ing and  the  adverse  influences  of  such  en- 
forced economy  was  plainly  apparent  on  the 
sales  of  the  cnina  and  crockery  nouses  dur- 
ing-the  year  juso  closed.  Those  who  import 
nearly  all  the  foreign  goods  sold  by  them,  as  is 
the  case  with  all  the  leading  firms,  also  suf- 
fered severely  from  overimportations. 
Knowing  that  the  duty  on  foreign  ware  would 
be  very  materially  increased  on  the  1st  of 
July,  large  orders  were  sent  out  for  goods  to 
arrive  prior  to  that  date,  and,  as  the  result 
has  since  shown,  nearly  every  house  in  the 
trade  overestimated  the  demand.  Referring 
to  the  imports,  the  head  or  the  largest  china 
house  in  the  country  said:  "We  were  all  over- 
anxious to  get;  the  bulge  on  the  other  in  the 
way  of  cheap  goods,  and  in  our  efforts  to  do 
so  twice  as  many  goods  were  imported  as 
•were  required. "  Finding  their  stores  full  of 
goods  for  which  the  demand  was  only  fair, 
the  desire  to  sell  resulted  in  a  competition 
which  left  little  profit  to  iobbejs.  But  a  cast- 
ing up  of  the  year's  transactions  snows  that 
in  spite  of  the  many  adverse  conditions 
which  the  trade  has  had  to  encounter,  includ- 
ing a  decline  of  5  to  10  per  cent  in  prices, 
the  sales  show  an  actual"  increase  in  volume 
over  those  of  1882,  which  was  much  larger 
than  any  preceding  twelve  months.  The 
gain  was  the  result  of  the  extra  exertions 
that  were  made  to  secure  customers  from 
new  sections,  and  as  Chicago  jobbers  never 
lose  custom  that  in  once  secured, 
the  current  year's  business,  although  done  at 
small  profit,  "will  bring  good  fruit  in  the  fut- 
ure. 

A  feature  in  the  year's  business,  and  one 
which  deserves  sj  eci  il  mention,  is  that  while 
the  causes  above  mentioned  have  restricted 
the  sales  of  common  and  medium  grades  of 
goods  in  the  sections  from  which  Chicago 
has  for  years  received  the  bulk  of  its  cus- 
tom, the  demand  for  expensive  ware  from 
the  larger  towns  and  cities  where  there  is 
the  greatest  aggregation  of  wealth  was  much 
larger  than  usual.  The  call  for  costly  hand- 
decorated  china,  noted  in  last  year's  report, 
has  also  materially  increased,  and  has  fur- 
nished employment  to  a  large  number  of 
artists  who  make  a  specialty  of  that  class  of 
work.  There  have  also  been  many  changes 
in  the  patterns  of  the  best  grades  o'f  goods  to 
suit  the  caprices  of  fashion. 

In  reviewing  the  year's  trade  it  is  a  matter 
of  sincere  regret  that  the  sales  have  not 
shown  the  same  increase  as  during  the  pre- 
vious two  years.  This  is  no  doubt  largely 
due  to  the  fact  that  such  goods 
chiefly  consist  of  medium  and 
common  grades,  the  demand  for 
which  was  lessened  by  the  desire  «i 


ers  of  such  goods  to  economize,  as  already 
stated  above.  The  excessive  importations  of 
foreign  crockery  and  the  low  prices  at  which 
it  was  sold  also  prevented  Chicago  jobbers 
from  giving  their  usual  number  of  orders  to 
American  potteries  for  goods. 

HOUSEHOLD  FURNITURE 

CHICAGO    GAINING    GROUND     BY  MANUFACTURE. 

Although  Chicago,  from  its  geopraphical 
position  and  unequaled  facilities  for  com- 
municating with  all  parts  of  the  country,  has 
for  many  years  been  the  center  of  the  whole- 
Bale  furniture  trade  west  of  the  Alleghanies, 
it  is  only  a  few  years  since  it  became  promi- 
nent as  a  manufacturing  point.  A  quarter 
of  a  century  age  fully  90  per  cent  of  the  most 
common  articles  of  furniture  sola  here  came 
from  the  Central  and  Eastern  States.  Even 
kitchen  chairs  were  brouerht  here  from  Ohio, 
and  it  would  have  been  impossible  to  furnish 
a  house  of  the  most  modest  pretensions  ex- 
clusively of  furniture  manufactured  in  Chi- 
cago. A  gentleman  largely  identified  with  the 
trade  states  that  as  late  as  1874  a  very  large 
percentage  of  the  furniture  sold  here  came 
from  points  further  East.  To-day,  however, 
it  is 

THE  LARGEST  MANUFACTURING  CITY 

in  the  United  States.  Our  manufacturers 
annually  send  heavy  consignments  to  every 
part  of  the  country  East  and  West 

The  most  conclusive  evidence  that  Chicago 
possesses  superior  advantages  for  manufact- 
uring furniture  as  well  as  of  the  enterprise 
of  its  dealers  is  that  they  are  the  most  for- 
midable rivals  in  the  Eastern  markets  of  the 
manufacturers  from  whom  they  until  recently 
bought  the  bulk  of  their  goods.  The  magni- 
tude of  the  city's  industrial  and  jobbing  in- 
terest in  this  line  may  be  inferred  from  the 
fact  that  it  gives  employment  to  17,000 
workmen,  and  the  present  year's  production 
is  estimated  at  over  $36,000,000  against 
$32,000,000  last  year.  Dealers  state  .that 
while  their  sales  in  Illinois  and  Iowa  show  a 
decline,  which  is  attributed  to  a  partial  fail- 
ure of  their  corn  and  some  other  crops  for 
three  successive  years,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Kansas, 
Nebraska,  Missouri,  Wisconsin,  Michigan,  and 
the  Northwestern  and  far  Western  sections, 
including  the  Pacific  slope  States  and  Terri- 
tories, 

BOUGHT  MORE   GOODS 

than  last  year — Missouri,  Kansas,  Ne- 
braska, Minnesota,  and  Dakota  show- 
ing the  largest  increase.  The 
most  important  shipments  outside  the  Unite*! 
States  were  to  Manitoba  and  Northwest  Tei  - 
ritory,  whose  people  show  a  decided  prefer- 
ence for  Chicago  furniture  over  the  Cana- 
dian-made goods,  and  pay  a  heavy  duty  on 
their  purchases  here  rather  than  buy  from 
makers  of  the  same  articles  in  the  Eastern 
provinces  of  Canada.  The  average  cost  of 
manufacturing,  owing  to  a  decline  in  prices 
of  some  articles  of  raw  material,  has  been 
slightly  below  1882.  This  advantage,  how- 
ever, has  been  given  to  the  buyer,  hence 
dealers  have  failed  to  realize  any  improve- 
ment in  profits.  On  the  contrary,  the  year's 
results  are  scarcely  as  satisfactory  as  for  the 
preceding  twelve  months.  There  is,  how- 
ever, a  sreneral  feelinsf  that  the  shrinkage  in 
prices  that  has  been  going  on  for  some  time 
has 

"AT  LAST  BEEN  CHECKED, 

and  that  a  change  for  the  better  is  not  dis- 
tant i.  gratifying  feature  in  connection 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUEt. 


159 


with  the  trade  is  the  small  percentage  of 
losses  from  bad  debts,  the  failures  among 
the  retail  trade  being  comparatively  light. 

OFFICE    AND    SCHOOL     FURNITURE. 

CHICAGO     THE      HEAD-CENTER — IMMENSE     BUSI- 
NESS. 

The  goods  coming  under  the  above  head 
include  all  articles  of  bank,  school,  office, 
church,  theater,  opera  house,  and  other  fur- 
niture for  public  buildings,  and  its  manu- 
facture is  a  distinct  branch  of  the  furniture 
industry,  and  is  carried  on  more  extensively 
in  Chicago  than  at  any  other  point  in  the 
country,  and  there  are  few  cities  or  towns 
where  such  goods  are  used  that  do  not  buy 
more  or  less  here,  including  large  sales  to 
the  General  Government  for  fitting  up 
offices  in  Washington  City  and 
elsewhere.  Liberal  shipments  are  also 
made  to  other  countries,~including  Mexico, 
British  Columbia,  Manitoba,  and  North  and 
South  America.  Unlike  some  other  lines 
of  manufacturing  dealers  say  they  have  had 
an  active  and  prosperous  year.  The  princi- 
pal establishments  have  increased  their  pro- 
ductive capacity  25  per  cent,  without 
being  able  to  turn  out  goods  as 
rapidly  as  wanted,  and  the  year  closes  with 
more  orders  than  can  be  filled  during  the 
next  four  months.  The  average  prices  are 
reported  about  the  same  as  last  year. 

WALLPAPER,  COLLATERAL  GOODS. 

CONSIDERABLE   ACTIVITY. 

This  line  of  the  jobbing  trade  was  favor- 
ably influenced  by  the  large  degree  of  activ- 
ity in  building  operations  in  nearly  every 
portion  of  the  country,  which  materially  in- 
creased the  demand  for  wall  paper  and  cur- 
tain fixtures,  and  the  leading  houses  hand- 
ling such  articles  report  a  material  gain  in 
their  sales.  There  was  also  a  much  larger 
call  for  better  grades  of  goods  than  are 
usuallv  called  for  by  interior  dealers,  and 
especially  from  the  more  newly  settled  fron- 
tiers of  the  West  and  Northwest.  The  largest 
sales,  however,  were  to  the  older  and  more 
wealthy  States  containing  the  largest  towns 
and  cities,  the  consumption  of  such  goods  in 
Chicago  being  much  larger  than  customary 
for  many  years.  Prices,  however,  \v  ere  gen- 
erally cheap,  and  the  strong  competition 
which  jobbers  here  were  compelled  to  meet 
from  other  cities  which  were  trying  to 
secure  trade  in  territory  that  is  regarded 
Dy  Chicago  dealers  as  under  their  espe- 
cial control,  often  compelled  them  to  sell 
goods  at  very  small  profits. 

IRON    AND    STEEL. 

A  HISTORICAL  REVIEW. 

The  iron  and  steel  industry  is  the  oldest  not 
only  in  this  country,  but  the  oldest  of  which 
there  is  any  record  in  the  world's  history. 
Hence  it  may  strictly  be  regarded  as  the 
parent  of  all  other  manufacturing  interests, 
as  none  could  be  successfully  conducted  with- 
out the  aid  of  iron  and  steel.  That  the  dis- 
covery of  the  process  by  which  the  crude  ores 
were  converted  into  refined  metal,  from 
which  useful  weapons  and  tools  were  made, 
was  the  first  step  toward  man's  civilization 
is  beyond  doubt.  The  date  of  the  discovery, 
however,  is  too  largely  dependent  on  vague 


and  unreliable  traditions  to  admit  of  its  loca- 
tion. That  the  discovery  was  old  long  be- 
fore any  system  of  recording  events  was 
known  is  certain.  The  first  successful  effort 
at  making  iron  in  America  was  by  Thomas 
Eutter,  who.  in  1716,  erected  a  blast  furnace 
and  forge  on  the  Schuylkill  Biver,  about  forty 
miles  from  Germantown,  in  what  is  now 
Montgomery  County,  Pa,  Samples  of  this 
iron  were  sent  to  England  and  aroused  such  a 
jealousy  among  tne  English  iron-makers  that 
in  1719  a  bill  was  introduced  in  the  English 
Parliament  to  prohibit  the  importation  of 
American  iron.  The  bill,  however,  was  un- 
successful, until  1750,  when  the  increase  of 
production  in  this  country  caused 
such  alarm  in  England  as  to 
secure  its  passage.  In  1817,  just  100  years 
from  the  date  of  Butter's  first  successful  ex- 
periment, the  first  iron  made  west  of  Pitts- 
burg  was  produced  at  a  small  forge  erected 
by  Ashbrand&Smitn.  about  five  miles  southeast 
of  Pilot  Knob,  Iron  County,  Mo.  A  few  years 
later  a  number  of  small  works  were  erected 
in  Pope  and  Hardin  Counties,  111.,  and  for 
years  the  southern  part  of  this  State,  which 
at  this  time  contained  the  bulk  of  the  popu- 
lation, was  largely  supplied  with  iron  and 
castings  from  the  Pope  and  Hardin  County 
works.  But  the  increase  in  the  production 
at  Pittsburg  ana  other  points  on  the  Ohio 
Eiver,  where  bituminous  coals  and  im- 
proved manufacturing  facilities  enabled 
workers  there  to  manufacture  iron  so 
much  cheaper  than  it  could  be  turned 
out  from  the  crude  charcoal  establishments 
in  this  State,  caused  their  abandonment 

THE  FIRST  FOUNDRY  IN  CHICAGO. 

In  1836  the  first  iron  foundry  was  built 
in  Chicago,  on  a  very  small  scale.  It  was, 
however,  many  years  later  ere  the  first  blast 
furnace  was  built  for  the  production  of  pig 
iron,  the  development  of  that  branch "  of 
iron-making,  which  is  now  a  leading  indus- 
try, being  delayed  by  a  fear  that  the  distance 
from  the  ore  and  fuel  supplies  would  prevent 
pig  iron  from  being  made  here  at  a  cost  that 
would  permit  of  an  extended  production. 
The  result,  however,  has  clearly  demou- 
strated  that  nowhere  outside  of  the  ooal  and 
iron  fields  can.  pig  metal  be  produced  so  suc- 
cessfully as  in  Chicago,  and  nowhere  else  out 
of  the  sections  indicated  is  the  business  car- 
ried on  so  extensively.  The  total  production 
in  1882  was  returned  at  360,407  tons.  The 
exact  proportion  made  at  each  point  is  not 
given,  'but  as  13  of  the  16  furnaces  in 
the  State  are  located  in  Chicago  and  imme- 
diate vicinity  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  it 
should  be  credited  with  the  great  bulk  of  the 
output.  The  pig  made  here  is  converted 
into  Bessemer  and  other  steel  by  the  estab- 
lishment producing  it,  all  of  whom  have  ex- 
tensive rolling  mills. 

AN  UNSATISFACTORY  MARKET. 

Tne  closing  year's  production  has  been 
materially  reduced  by  the  unsatisfactory 
condition  of  the  iron  and  steel  market, 
coupled  with  disturbances  among  workmen, 
which  compelled  the  shutting  down  of  the 
establishments  during  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  year.  The  Union  Iron  and  Steel 
Works  were  also  closed  during  almost  the 
entire  year  through  the  failure  of  the  com- 
pany. The  situation  in  other  parts  of  the 
country  was  less  favorable  than  here,  and 
the  pro'duction  smaller  in  proportion  to  the 
capacity.  Many  of  the  furnaces  located  in 
the  iron  and  coal  fields  were  compelled  to 
close  from  a  lack  of  sale  for  their  products 
at  remunerative  prices.  It  is  stated  that 


160 


CHICAGO'S  FIKST  HALF  CENTURA. 


out  of  55  charcoal  furnaces  in 
the  Lake  Superior  district  only  seventeen  are 
in  blast.  Of  the  thirty-eight  now  idle  only 
six  are  in  a  condition  to  blow  in  without  re- 
building. As  the  supply  of  timber  for  fuel 
where  many  of  them  are  located  has  been  BO 
nearly  exhausted  as  to  greatly  enhance  the 
price  of  charcoal,  there  is  little  reason  for 
supposing  that  they  will  ever  again  be  put 
in  operation.  A  similar  condition  of  affairs 
exists  in  many  other  localities,  hence  it  is 
plain  that  the  production  of  charcoal  iron  will 
decline  in  the  near  future.  Nor  is  the  loss 
likely  to  tbe  compensated  by  mineral  coal 
and  coke  iron,  as  a  number  of  the  latter  fur- 
naces were  unwisely  built  at  points  where 
pig-iron  can  only  be  made  at  periods  when 
profits  are  extrordinary,  having  long  been 
idle  and  will  never  again  be  blown  in,  hence 
it  is  plain  that  the  productive  capacity  for 
the  next  two  years  is  likely  to  be  more  nearly 
equalized  to  the  demand,  which  argues  an  ap- 
proach to  a  more  healthy  condition  of  trade 
in  the  not  distant  future.  This  assumption 
is  strengthened  bv  the  returns  gathered  by 
James'M.  Swank,  Esq.,  Secretary  of  the  Amer- 
ican Iron  and  Steel  Association. 
Mr.  Swank's  report  printed  Nov.  1 
shows  that  on  Jan.  1,  1883,  there  were  417 
furnaces  in  blast  in  the  United  States.  On 
Nov.  1  the  number  had  fallen  to  336,  show- 
ing a  decrease  of  87.  Since  then  a  few 
others  have  blown  out,  hence  the  reduction 
for  the  year  may  be  placed  at  100.  The 
statistical  position  of  the  pig-iron  market 
lias  also  been  improved  by  a  diminished  pro- 
duction which  has  fallen  below  the  very 
moderate  consumption.  On  Jan.  1  there 
were  383,055  gross  tons  of  pig-iron  in  the 
hands  of  makers  and  agents.  "  By  July  1  the 
quantity  increased  to  528,590  tons.  'Nov.  1 
there  were  232,354  tons  unsold.  The  1st  of 
November  there  were  no  stocks  worth  men- 
tioning in  the  hands  of  speculators,  nor  were 
there  at  any  of  the  ports  any  noteworthy 
stocks  of  foreign  pig-iron.  Of  hypothecated 
stocks  at  that  date  the  association  heard  of 
none  worthy  of  notice  except  Marshall  pig- 
iron  at  Pittsburg.  This  was  not  included  in 
the  statistics  ot  unsold  blocks  July  or  No- 
vember. 

THE  PIG -IKON  TBADE. 

A  feature  of  the  trade  in  pig-iron  in  Chicago 
during  the  current  year  was  the  large  increase 
in  sales  of  the  products  of  Southern  furnaces, 
the  bulk  of  which  came  from  Tennessee  and 
Alabama,  where  its  manufacture  has  more 
largely  increased  during  the  past  few  years 
than  in  any  other  section  of  the  Union.  The 
secret  of  the  success  attained  by  the  Southern 
furnaces  is  in  the  low  cash  at  which  the  ore 
fuel  can  be  concentrated.  This  has  enabled 
makers  to  undersell  the  same  giades  from 
other  parts  of  the  country. 

The  total  production  in  the  United  States 
for  the  past  eleven  years,  and  the  average 
price  in  Pennsylvania,  is  as  follows: 

Price  Tons, 

per  2,240  Ibs.      2.000  Ibs. 

1 883* $22.50          4,675,000 

18S2...  25.75  5,178,122 

1881 25.1213      4,641,564 

1880 28.50          4,205.114 

1870.  21.50  3.07U.875 

1878....  17.0212       2,577,3(il 

1877 18.871s       2,314,5*5 

1876...  22.25  2,093,236 

1875 25.50          2,266,581 

1874...                                    ..    30.25  2,68i),413 

1873...                                    ..    42.75  2,868,278 

1872 48.87ia       2,854,558 

'Estimated  production. 


REFINED    IKON. 

THE   COUBSE  OF   TBADE. 

Tie  year  opened  with  flattering  prospects 
for  a  good  trade,  stocks  at  the  mills  and  in 
hands  of  jobbers  were  light,  many  of  the 
former  had  liberal  orders  in  advance  of  pro- 
duction, and  the  indications  pointed  to  a 
liberal  consumption  at  fairly  remunerative 
prices.  It  soon  became  apparent,  however, 
that  there  was  trouble  brewing,  not  only  for 
the  iron  trade,  but  for  nearly  all  commercial 
and  industrial  pursuits.  These  early  ad- 
monitions of  disaster  were  soon  followed  by 
heavy  failures,  including  some  of  the  largest, 
and,  heretofore,  supposed  to  be  the  strongest 
firms  engaged  in  making  and  jobbing  iron 
Distrust  at  once  succeeded  confidence,  many 
orders  on  tile  at  the  mills  were  canceled  ere 
they  had  been  reacned,  while  many  parties 
who  had  previously  been  impatiently  waiting 
for  goods  were  unable  to  receive  them  when 
ready  for  delivery.  The  reversal  in  the  posi- 
tion of  the  market  and  the  growing  frequency 
of  failures  increased  the  pressure  to  sell,  and 
there  was  a  gradual  settlement  in  values 
from  about  the  opening  to  the  end  of  the 
year.  The  average  price,  in  Philadelphia 
through  January  for  best  merchant  bar  was 
$56  per  ton  of  2,240  pounds.  In 
February  prices  steadily  settled,  and 
averaged  $53.76.  As  above  stated,  there 
was  no  reaction  from  the  first  start  down 
and  the  closing  price  was  $36.  The  highest 
price  reached  in  forty  years  was  in  August. 
1864,  when  it  touched  $170.  The  lowest 
prices  previous  to  this  year  was  in  January, 
1879,  when  it  averaged  $40.32,  but  closed 
the  following  December  at  $72.24.  The  de- 
pression in  the  trade  materially  interrupted 
the  production  of  the  Chicago  rolling  mills, 
which  was  further  contracted  by  the  suspen- 
sion of  the  Union  Iron  and  Steel  Company, 
whose  works  were  closed  early  in  the  year. 
In  spite,  however,  of  the  adverse  situation, 
the  Chicago  mills  have  done  a  very  fair  busi- 
ness. Their  production,  including  bar  and 
other  classes  of  refined  iron,  was  about  75. 
000  tons.  Jobbers  report  a  very  fair  distri- 
bution, including  a  large  increase  to  the 
Northwest,  far  West,  and  other  new  sections 
not  heretofore  supplied  from  here.  Profits, 
however,  have  been  very  light,  and  at  the 
close  there  is  less  disposition  to  press  sales, 
and  more  confidence  regarding  the  future. 
The  mills  are  also  receiving  a  fair  number  ot 
orders  for  delivery  during  the  next  three 
months.  The  present  low  prices  liKewi«e 
encourage  dealers  to  think  that  no  material 
decline  can  be  possible,  and  that  the  next 
change  of  consequence  is  likely  to 
be  in  the  direction  of  an  advance. 
Stocks  of  all  classes  are  fair  but 
not  excessive,  and  the  outlook  justifies  pre- 
dictions that  the  production  during  the  next 
few  months  will  be  more  closely  adjusted  to 
the  demand  for  consumption,  and  business 
•conducted  on  a  conservative  basis. 

The  range  of  prices  for  common  bar  iron 
in  the  Chicago  i^arket  each  month  during 


CHICAGO'S   FIRST  MALI'  CENTURY. 


161. 


the  past  ye^r,  with  comparisons,  was  as  fol- 
lows: 


January..  . 
February  .  . 
March  
April  
May 

.  $2.  5(H?<  •-'.<«> 
.     2.40@2.50 
.     2.30@2.50 
.     2.30@2.40 
2.25@2.30 

1882. 
$.  ...<f?3.00 
....@3.0O 
....@3.00 
....@3.00 
2.70@3.00 

1881. 
$....@2.50 
2.40@2.50 
2.40@2.50 
2.40@2.50 
2.40@2.5() 

June  
July  
August.  .. 
September 
October  .  . 
November 
December 

.     2.25@2.3() 
.     2.20@2.25 
2.10@2.25 
2.10@2.20 
2.00@2,15 
2.00@2.10 
...@2.00 

'.'.'.@3.00 
2.90@3.00 
2.90@300 

2.80@2.90 
2.60@2.80 
2.50@2.70 

2.40@2.50 
2.40@2.50 

!@s!oo 

.@3.00 
.@3.00 

STEEL    RAILS. 

The  decrease  of  nearly  50  per  cent  in  rail- 
road construction  durinsr  the  year,  compared 
with  the  twelve  months  immediately  preced- 
ing1, and  the  unsettled  condition  of  business 
which  induced  greater  economy  in  tracks, 
regarding  repairs  by  the  roads  already 
in  operation,  coupled  with  a  reduc- 
tion of  $9  per  ton  in  the  import 
duty,  has  been  severely  felt  by  the 
manufacturers  of  steel  rails,  and  the  absence 
of  orders  at  paying  rate*  compelled  many  of 
the  mills  East  and  West  to  shut  down,  while 
others  have  only  run  on  part  time,  and  in  a 
maiority  of  instances  those  who  continued  in 
operation  made  rails  without  profit  if  not  an 
actual  loss,  their  object  being  to  give 
work  to  a  large  number  of  workingmen  who 
must  otherwise  have  suffered  for  lack  of  em- 
ployment. The  cost  of  keeping  mills  idle  is 
also  an  important  item,  as  machinery  suffers 
more  from  inaction  than  active  work.  This 
alone  often  induces  iron  and  steel  makers  to 
keep  their  mills  in  operation  in  the  face  of 
an  apparent  loss  on  their  products.  The  ex- 
tent to  which  the  steel-rail  industry  has  suf- 
fered may  be  inferred  by  a  comparison  of  the 
opening  with  closing  price*  of  the  year,  the 
former  quotation  at  Philadelphia  $40  and 
the  latter  at  $35  per  ton,  and  even  at  the 
latter  figure  there  are  less  orders  than  would 
give  the  Eastern  mills  employment  for  half 
their  capacity.  It  is  gratifying:,  however,  to 
be  able  to  state  that  the  Chicago  mills  have 
been  more  fortunate  in  securing  orders  than 
many  in  other  sections  of  the  country,  and, 
with,  the  exception  of  one  establishment 
which,  owing  to  financial  embarrass- 
ments of  the  corporation  controlling  it,  was 
closed  early  in  the  year.  The  percentage  of 
production  to  capacity  has  been  larger  thtm 
at  other  steel  rail  centers.  The  North  Chi- 
cago Company,  having  an  aggregate  capacity 
of  325,000  tons  per  annum  at  their  North 
Branch  and  South  Chicago  mills,  have 
turned  out  165.000  tons,  and  have  suffi- 
cient orders  booked  to  keep  them  fairly 
employed  for  some  time  to  come;  the  prices 
at  wliich  the  recent  orders  were  taken, 
although  not  made  public,  supposed  to  be 
$1  to $2  over  the  Eastern  quotations.  Chicago 
rail  mills  are  of  the  most  recent  construction, 
and  are  provided  with  every  improvement 
calculated  to  save  labor,  and  cheapen  the 
cost  of  goods.  Instead  of  casting  pigs,  as 
was  formerly  the  custom,  the  molten  metal 
runs  direct  from  the  furnaces  to  the  con- 
verter, where  it  is  transformed  into  steel, 
whence  it  passes  into  a  liquid  state  to  the 
rollers  and  is  shaped  into  rails.  This  is  a 
great  saving  in  both  labor  and  fuel.  This  in 
connection  with  the  lower  cost  of  iron  ores 
has  enabled  the  mills  here  to  make  rails 


without  loss  in  the  face  of  the  severe  decline 
in  prices  since  the  first  of  the  year. 

The  following  exhibits  the  production  of 
rails  in  this  country  from  1867  to  1882,  :m<l 
prices  from  1867  to  1883,  inclusive,  the 
price  for  the  latter  year  merely  covering  the 
entire  range,  while  the  average  is  given  for 
the  preceding  years;  1867  being  the  first 
period  at  which  they  were  produced  in  sala- 
ble quantities: 


Year. 
J867. .. 
18«8.  . 
1869... 
1870 


Product  in 
cross  tons. 
2.277 
6.457 
8,616 
30.357 


Pr'ce  in 
cnn-TiPY. 
$16600 
158.50 
132.25 
106.75 
102.50 
11200 
12050 
91.25 
68.75 
59.25 
4550 
42.25 
48.33 
67.50 


. 

1871  ..................   34,152 

1872  .................   83.091 

1873...  ...............  115,192 

1874  ..................  12<».ni 

1875  ..................  259.699 

1876  ..................  308.269 

1877  ..................  385,269 

1878  ..................  491.427 

1879  .................   606.397 

1880  ......  .  ...........  954.460 

1881  .................  1,330,302 

1882  .................  1,438,155        4S.5O  " 

1883  ..................  No  report        37.50 

Of  the  1.438,155  tons   made    in  1882.  Illi- 

nois produced  336,122  tons,  Pennsylvania 
759.524,  and  other  States  and  Territories 
342,509  tons. 

TOOL   STEELS. 

There  has  been  a  liberal  con- 
sumption of  all  grades  of  tools  and  ma- 
chinists' steels,  and  the  distribution  was 
larger  than  last  year,  but,  as  with  oth^r 
classes  of  steel  goods,  prices  were  the  lowest 
ever  touched,  and  the  mararin  between  cash 
and  selling  figure^  so  close  that  very  few 
articles  paid  a  profit  to  jobbers. 

NAILS. 

The  trade  in  nails  has  grown  to  be  an  enor- 
mous one,  especially  in  the  West,  Northwest, 
and  Southwest  According  to  statistics  pre- 
pared for  the  American  Iron  and  Steel  As- 
sociation, there  are  seventy-four  completed 
nail  mills  in  tne  country,  containing  5,008 
nail  machinea  Five  new  nail  works  are 
being  built  and  will  be  ready  for  operation 
about  the  beginning  of  the  year  1884.  At 
that  time  there  will  be  a  total  of  5,999  nail 
machines,  being  an  increase  of  432  mach  nes 
in  about  eighteen  months.  The  manufacture 
of  steel  nails  has  commenced,  there  being 
six  works  engaged  in  making  nails  of  stet- 
or  steel  and  iron  combined.  The  annual 
capacity  of  the  completed  nail  mills  of  the 
country,  supp'  sin  r  them  to  be  steadily  em- 
ployed, is  11,376,000  kegs  of  cut  nails  <>r 
spikes,  an  increase  of  about  25  per  cent 
since  August,  1882.  This  capacity  will  be 
increased  about  1,000,000  kegs  when 
the  new  works  now  being  built  are 
completed.  In  1882  the  product  was 
6,147,097  kegs  of  10O  pon  is.  an  i 
for  1883  it  is  estimated  at  6,00(;.  0  keys. 
There  are  sixteen  States  in  which  nails  are 
manufactured,  but  the  great  bulk  of  the 
trade  is  confined  in  Pennsylvania.  Ohio, 
Massachusetts,  and  West  Virginia.  Out  of 
the  5.008  machines  in  u^e,  Pennsylvania  hns 
1,425;  Ohio.  8r>!':  .Massachusetts,  <Jl(i;  and 
.West  Virginia,  (!S9.  The.  capacity  of  the 
"Pennsylvania  mills  is  8,264,000  kegS;  Oho, 
2,200.000  fcesrs;  and  West  Virginia.  1  CsS 
000  kegs.  No  other  State  reachesone  million 


162 


CHICAGO'S  FIEST   HALF  CENTURY. 


kega  Of  the  new  machines  being  added  74 
are  in  Pennsylvania,  83  in  West  Virginia,  40 
in  Alabamba"  where  there  are  only  60  now, 
and  100  in  Wisconsin,  where  there  are  none 
now.  The  manufacture  in  this  city  for  the 
vear  was  reported  at  264,000  kegs  of  100 
ibs  each,  against  300,000  in  1882,  the 
falling-  off  being  due  to  the  destruction  of  the 
mills  by  fire  early  in  the  year,  which  required 
30  days  to  rebuild,  and  by  their  being  closed 
one  month  in  the  summer  to  limit  the  pro- 
duction, and  another  shut-down  which  oc- 
curred Dec.  29.  The  action  of  manufactur- 
ers in 

LIMITING   THE  OUTPUT 

was  done  to  prevent  the  market  from  being 
overstocked  and  to  keep  prices  up  to  as  high 
a  price  as  possible,  but  the  depression  in  the 
general  iron  trade  was  too  much  for  them 
and  prices  gradually  settled  from  the  open- 
ing to  the  close,  which  was  equal  to  a  dec.ine 
of  90c  per  keg.  The  year  opened  with  mod- 
erate stocks  in  the  hands  of  Western  jobbers 
/and  a  liberal  demand.  As  the  season  ad- 
vanced, the  consumption  increased  on  ac- 
count of  the  unusual  number  of  buildings 
being  erected  in  all  parts  of  the  West.  The 
supply,  however,  was  fully  equal  to  the  re- 
quirements and  no  difficulty  to  speak  of  was 
-experienced  in  filling  orders,  except  where 
round  lots  of  sizes  for  which  there  was  an 
unusual  call,  and  then  the  delay  was  almost 
too  trifling  to  notice.  The  general  feeling 
among  the  trade,  however,  was  unsettled, 
and  purchases  were  more  on  the  hand-to- 
mouth  principle  than  for  the  past  three 
years,  as  the  steady  settling  of  prices  made 
them  very  timid  about  anticipating  their 
wants,  and  the  manufacturers  were  forced 
to  carry  the  stocks,  and  fed  the  trade  as  it 
required.  There  was  no  difficulty  with  the 
employes  as  in  1882;  and,  although  as  many 
nails  were  sold  and  used  as  in  former  years, 
the  prices  were  so  low  that  manufacturers 
were  unable  to  make  any  profit  to  speak  of. 
The  year  closed  with  fair  stocks  and  a  mod- 
erate order  demand,  but  the  general  feeling 
was  that  prices  had  reached  about  the  lowest 
point,  and  jobbers  were  very  conservative 
about  naming  rates  for  car  lots  unless  for 
present  delivery. 

THE  BANGE  OF  PRICES 

eacn  month  during  the  past  year,  with  com- 
parisons, was  as  follows: 

1883.                1882.  1881. 
Jan          $3.50  to  3.75  $3.50  to  3.55  $2.90  to  3.00 

Feb'"       3.00103.50    3.50  to  3.55  2.90  to  3.20 

March       3.40  to  3.50    3.50  to  3.55  3  10  to  3.20 

A.>-.I          3  25  to  3  50    3. 40  to  3.50  3  OO  to  3.25 

3.25  to  3.50    3.40  to  3.50    to  3.OO 

3  "5  to      . ..     3.75  to  4.0O    to  3.00 

3  10  to  3.25     to  4.0O    to  3.0O 

3  1O  to  3.15     to4()O  3.0Ot«3.1O 

3.00  to  3.10    4.OOto4.25  3.10  to  3. 4O 

2  S5  to  3.00     3.75  to  4.OO  3.40  to  3.5O 

2  85  to  2.95     to  3. 75     to  3.5O 

2.60  to  2.80    3.60  to  3. 75     to  3.5O 


May 

June 

Julv.. 

Aug... 

Sept.. 

Oct  .  .  . 

Nov... 

Dec... 


METALS  AND  TINNERS'  STOCK. 
Business  in  everything  that  comes  under 
this  head,  such  as  sheet  iron,  copper,  tin- 
plate,  solder,  etc..  was  for  the  greater  part  of 
the  year  as  good  as  in  any  former  period. 
There  was  less  desire,  however,  on  the  part 
of  the  interior  jobbers  and  manufacturers  to 
carry  large  stocks,  preferring  to  buy  more 
frequently  than  in  previous  year*,  as  they 
regarded  the  outlook  in  many  sections  with 
considerable  suspicion,  which  created  an  un- 
settled feeling.  Jobbers  here,  however,  kept 
their  stocks  up  to  what  they  have  been,  and 


no  difficulty  was  experienced  in  filling  orders. 
Sales  were  pushed  in  sections  that  they  had 
heretofore  given  little  attention  to,  and  the 
result  has  been  that  more  goods  were  sold, 
but  the  aggregate  business  wa« 
not  any  greater  than  that  of 
J  882,  as  prices  ruled  lower  on  all  descrip- 
tions and  closed  weak  and  unsettled  for 
sheet  iron  and  tin-plate  at  the  inside  of  the 
year.  Tin-plate  opened  in  January  at  $7 
rates  for  standard  brands,  and  in  February 
declined  to  $6. 75,  where  it  remained  until 
December,  when  jobbers  began  to  cut  rates, 
and  a  reduction  to  $6.50  occurred.  Sheet 
iron,  N os.  16  to  24,  opened  at  $4.50  rates, 
and  gradually  settled  to  $3. 50  at  the  close, 
with  the  prospect  of  lower  prices  in  the  near 
future.  Copper  bottoms  declined  from  29c 
to  23c  per  ib  and  closed  at  the  latter  figure. 

HARDWARE,    CTJTELRY,  AND  TOOLS 

A  CON8IDEBABLB  INCREASE. 

The  demand    for    all    classes  of    builders 
hardware  has    shown  considerable  increase 
over    any  preceding    year,    the   gain  being 
argely  the  result  of  the  activity  in  building 
operations    in    nearly    every    portion  of  the 
country,   ana    especially  in  the    large  cities 
and  the  newly  settled    sections  of   the  West 
and  Northwest,  where  the  consumption  was 
unusually    heavy.     There  was  also  a  wider 
extent  of  country  supplied  than  in  any  for- 
mer year,  liberal  shipments  going  to  all  the 
Pacific    coast    States    and    Territories.     Fair 
bills  were  also  sent  to  the  Canadian  provinces 
in  the  Northwest,  and  a  few  to  the  Republic 
of    Mexico.     Tne    demand    from    the  larger 
towns  and  cities  also  included  a  better  line 
of       goods,       or        at       least       a       larger 
percentage    of      such     articles.     The    aug- 
mentation     in       sales      of        fine        goods 
was       entirely       due      to      the      material 
increase  in  the  number  of    expensive   build- 
ings  erected   during  the  year   just  closing. 
There  is,  however,  an  almost  universal  com- 
plaint among  jobbers  that  while  the  volume 
of  sales  was  much  larger  than  in  any  former 
year,  the    result  was  not  as   satisfactory  as 
could  have  been  desired.     This  is  attributed 
to   the    heavy  production  of   goods,   wnich 
induced    more    than    ordinary    competition 
among  dealers  who,  finding  that  stocks  were 
larger  than  required  and  prices  steadily  de- 
preciating,   made    extra   exertions  to   work 
them    off.     To  quote  a   dealer,  "prices  were 
cut  right  and  left,  the    main  object  being  to 
sell."    As  a  necessary  result  of  the  anxiety  to 
sell     many    articles'  reached    consumers  at 
prices  that  failed  to  cover  cost  of  production. 
The    steady  depreciation  in    values    also  in- 
duce greater  caution  among   jobbers,  wbo. 
after  their  early    stocks    were    out    down, 
refused     to     give      orders    in     advance    of 
current  wants.     This  course.  whil«  relieving 
jobbers   from    losses   by    a   decline  on  larjre 
stocks,    was  exceedingly    severe    on    manu- 
facturers,   who,    in    addition    to  being  com- 
pelled to  carry  goods  until  wanted  for  distri- 
but;on,  were  required    to  bear  aimost  the  en- 
tire loss  that   occurred  from  depreciation  be- 
tween their    manufacture    and  sale  to  retail- 
ers     The    trade    in    miscellaneous    lines    of 
hardware     of     all    other     descriptions    was 
affected  by     the    same     causes    influencing 
bu'lders'  goods,    and    the  result  equally  un- 
satisfactory to  makers  and  jobbers. 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


163 


The  demand  for  cutlery  was  fairly  active, 
and,  with  an  enlarged  area  of  territory 
to  supply,  jobbers  were  enabled  to  dispose 
of  a  large  volume  of  goods.  Unfortunately, 
however,  they  had  bought  excessive  stocks 
at  the  close  of  1882  and  opening  of  1883. 
This  condition  of  the  trade  early  became  ap- 
parent to  the  trade,  and  was  followed  by  a 
desire  to  sell  that  induced  the  acceptance  of 
prices  that  failed  to  return  a  remuneration  to 
the  jobbers.  The  close  of  the  year  also  finds 
liberal  stocks  in  hands  of  manufacturers,  and 
there  is  little  reason  to  hope  for  a  healthy 
improvement  until  the  production  is  more 
nearly  equalized  to  the  consumption.  It  is 
estimated  that  fully  80  per  cent  of  the  cut- 
lery consumed  in  this  country  is  of  American 
manufacture,  and  at  the  rapid  rate  at  which 
its  sale  is  increasing,  compared  with  foreign 
made  goods,  justifies  the  prediction  that 
very  few  years  will  elapse  ere  only 
a  limited  number  of  special  lines 
of  foreign  goods  will  be  imported.  The  ex- 
ports of  American  cutlery  to  New  Zea  and, 
South  and  Central  America,  Mexico,  Aus- 
tralia, South  Africa,  and  Canada  are  also 
steadily  increasing,  the  superiority  of  its 
finish,  and  fine  temper  giving  it  preference 
over  any  other  makes  where  there  is  an  ap- 
proach to  equality  in  prices. 

There  has  been  more  than  an  ordinary 
activity  in  builders'  and  nearly  all  other 
lines  of  mechanics  and  miners'  tools,  but 
owing,  as  with  all  classes  of  goods,  to  the 
strong  competition  caused  by  over  stocks 
in  the  hands  of  manufacturers 
and  jobbers,  business  was  done  at  prices 
that  left  little  margin  for  profits,  and  the 
vear  closes  with  good  stocks.  The  fact, 
however,  that  all  articles  of  iron  and  steel 
goods  are  now  selling  at  such  small  prices  as 
to  discourage  production,  and  tnat  the  cur- 
rent cost  of  both  raw  materials  and  finished 
goods  are  down  where  no  further  decline  is 
likely,  if  at  all  possible,  encourages  the  hope 
t.iiit  a  change  for  the  better  must  occur  in 
the  near  future.  It  also  argues  well  for  the 
trade  that,  despite  the  many  adverse  condi- 
tions which  jobbers  of  hardware,  cutlery, 
and  collateral  articles  have  had  to  contend 
during  the  past  twelve  months,  no  failures 
have  occurred  among  Chicago  jobbers.  It  s 
also  safe  to  assume  that  there  are  few  other 
lines  of  the  wholesale  business  that  nvimber 
a  larger  percentage  of  really  strong  houses 
than  are  to  be  found  in  this  branch  of  trade. 

WIRE    GOODS.  ' 

AN  ENORMOUS   INCREASE. 

The  large  increase  in  settlements  in  the 
West,  Northwest,  and  Southwest,  as  well  as 
its  more  general  introduction  among  the 
farmers  of  the  older  States,  has  called  out  a 
very  active  demand  for  wire  fencing,  which 
is  rapidly  taking  the  place  of  lumber,  and  the 
product  of  the  Chicago  wire-fencing  fac- 
tories has  been  materially  augmented  within 
the  year.  Chicago  agents  of  such  factories  in 
other  localities  have  also  had  an  increased 
salj  for  their  goods.  It  is  stated,  ho-vever, 
that,  owing  to  the  very  strong1  competition 
among  producers,  prices  have  been  badly 
cut,  the  average  cost  being  the  lowest  on 
record.  The  profits  for  handling  were  also 
light  compared  with  the  volume  of  business, 
and  some  firms  assert  that  the  figures  at 
which  goods  were  sold  failed  to  cover  the 
expense  of  making,  although  the  prices  of 
raw  materials  were  lower  than  ever  before; 


boch  materials  and  finished  goods  are  now- 
down  where  a  further  decline  seems  im- 
possible. 

The  large  increase  in  the  demand 
for  woven  wire  for  screens,  windows,  doors, 
and  railings,  imparted  an  activity  in  the 
manufacture  and  sale  of  wire  cloth  and 
coarse  nettiner,  and  those  who  manufacture 
and  sell  such  goods  have  done  more  than  au 
average  business,  some  of  the  Chicago 
factories  at  times  being  behind  with  their 
orders.  Prices  of  such  goods  have  also  been 
much  lower  than  ever  before,  which,  no 
doubt,  had  a  tendency  to  enlarge  the  demand, 
especially  for  heavy  net  work,  which  is  rap- 
idly superseding  wood  for  railing  and  similar 
purposes  in  fitting  up  offices. 

STOVES. 

CHICAGO  LEADS   THE   TRADE. 

Those  who  are  conversant  with  the  stove 
trade  assert  that  the  United  States  makes  and 
uses  more  stoves  than  any  other  country  in 
the  world.  Statistics  kept  by  the  trade  also 
show  that  Chicago  disposes  of  more  stoves 
than  any  other  city  in  the  country.  Hence,  it 
may  justly  claim  that  it  is  the  largest  stove 
market  in  the  world,  yet  while  it  leads  i  .  the 
sale  of  such  goods  it  has  as  yet  not  made 
rapid  progress  in  their  product  on  compared 
with,  the  volume  handled.  Only  a  moderate 
percentage  of  tho^e  sold  in  Chicago  are  made 
here.  But  it  is  gratifying  to  know  the  stove 
foundries  are  annually  enlarging  their  ca- 
pacity and  volume  of  goods  turned  out,  and 
this  brancu  of  manufacturing  promises  ere 
long  to  become  a  leading  feature  of  the  c  ty's 
industrial  interests.  The  facilities  possessed 
for  concentrating  the  iron  and  fuel,  which 
are  the  leading  factors  in  stove  foundries,  at 
the  most  reasonable  COSD,  gives  its  stove- 
make  is  superior  opportunities  in  the  way  of 
making  cheap  goods.  Being  the  lead- 
ing jobbing  market  in  the  United  States 
the  goods  can  be  shipped  direct  from 
the  foundry  to  the  dealers  in  every  part  of 
the  country,  thereby  saving  the  freight 
which  competing  establishments  are  com- 
pelled to  pay  when  sending  their  goods  here 
for  saie.  Inquiry  among  the  leading  manu- 
facturers here  regarding~the  materials  used  in 
stove-making  develops  the  fact  that  the  use 
of  Scotch  pig  iron,  which  a  few  years  since 
was  regarded  as  absolutely  requis  te  in  the 
production  of  a  strong,  smooth  ca-tmg,  and 
which,  from  its  high  price,  naturally  en- 
hanced the  cost  of  the  goods,  has  been  en- 
tirely superseded  by  mixing  d.fferent  grades 
of  American  pig,  which  are  found  to  nrikt;  a 
plate  of  greater  strength  and  smoothness 
than  foundrymen  were  able  to  turn  out  when 
the  foreign  pig  was  used.  Many  also  assert 
that  the  American  castings— those  mude  from 
American  iron— expand  more  gradua  ly  un- 
der the  influence  of  heat,  and  as  a  conse- 
quence are  le?s  likely  to  warp  or  era  :k  w.iile 
hot  Although  the  trade,  like  nearly  all 
other  leading  lines  of  business,  has  ii  ul  many 
adverse  conditions  with  which  t  >  con- 
tend, there  has  been  a  con- 
siderable increase  in  the  quality  of 
goods  turned  out  by  the  various  stove 
works  located  here.  There  has  also  been 
many  improvements  in  patterns  calculated 
to  increase  their  popularity  with  those  who 
se«  them.  The  square  heat  ug  stoves  in- 
troduce I  last  year  have  unde.gone  numer- 
ous alterations  that  have  laigely  added  to 


1G4 


CHICAGO'S   FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


their  beauty  and  serviceableness.  Some 
entirely  new'and  novel  styles  have  been  in- 
troduced that  are  far  more  handsome  than 
any  heretofore  brought  out.  And  it  is  safe 
to  assume  that  Chicago  makers  will  not  fall 
behind  in  the  introduction  of  any  features 
that  are  attractive  and  valuable.  Although 
the  year's  business  with  Chicago  makers,  and 
the  works  located  at  other  points  who  have 
agencies  here  has  been  less  satisfactory  than 
could  have  been  desired,  there  is  reason  to 
believe  that  no  serious  losses  have  been  sus- 
tained by  the  trade,  and  dealers,  as  a  rule, 
feel  hopeful  of  the  future.  This  feeling  is 
encouraged  by  the  fact  that  prces  of  both 
the  raw  materials  and  finished  goods  are 
down  to  a  point  where  a  further  deprecia- 
tion in  values  is  scarcely  possible,  hence' they 
are  not  likeiy  in  the  future  to  sustain  losses 
from  a  further  decline  in  prices  of  iron  which 
would  necessitate  a  like  reduction  in  pro- 
ducta 

WAGON-MAKERS'   STOCK. 

INCREASE   OF  PRODUCTION. 

The  articles  classed  under  the  above  head 
includes  all  material  used  by  wagon  and  car- 
riage makers,  much  of  which  is  manufact- 
ured in  eastern  and  central  portions  of  the 
United  Statea  Some  lines  of  carriage  goods 
of  the  most  expensive  character  are  im- 
ported from  Europe.  There  is,  however,  a 
steady  increase  in  the  production  of  both 
steel  and  iron  goods  in  Chicago,  and  espe- 
.  ciaily  of  springs  for  every  class  of  vehicles 
requiring  such  articles.  These  latter  goods 
are  rapidly  superseding  those  made  in  the 
Eastern  States  from  the  fact  that  Chicago 
makers  can  bring  the  new  mater  al  together 
here  as  cheaply  as  they  can  be  placed  at  the 
factories  of  their  Eastern  rivals,  and  as  this 
is  the  great  distributing  point  for  such 
goods  they  have  a  market  advantage  in  the 
way  of  fre'ght  over  Eastern  manufacturers. 
The  great  activity  in  the  manufacture  of 
vehicles  this  year  has  caused  an  active  de- 
mand for  all  classes  of  heavy  iron  and  steel 
goods,  and  those  used  in  wagons  and  truclts 
nave  sold  more  freely  than  in  any  former 
ye  r,  the  gain  in  volume  as -compared  with 
1882  being  placed  at  20  to  25  per  cent.  Ow- 
ing to  vhe  decline  in  prices  on  steel  and  iron 
of  about  20  per  cent,  the  aggregate  value  of 
the  goods  sojd  shows  but  a  small  increase 
over  1882.  Profits  have  also  been  light,  as 
tlie  larger  stocks  held  during  the  early  part 
of  the  year,  in  connection  with  the  steady 
shrinkage  in  va.uos,  caused  dealers  and  man- 
ufacturers to  make  extraordinary  efforts  to 
sell,  and  in  their  anxiety  to  worfc  off  goods 
prices  wore  so  badly  cut  that  there  was  little 
mnrgin  left  between  the  cost  of  manufactur- 
ing and  distributing,  and  the  prices  at  which 
they  went  to  the  retailer,  or  makers  of  wag- 
ons and  carriages.  During  the  closing 
months  of  the  year  the  decline  in  values  was 
apparently  checked,  and  the  year  closes  with 
reduced  stocks  of  nearly  all  descriptions,  and 
a  more  healthy  feeling  exists  both  with  mak- 
cis  ami  joKb'-rs  of  goods,  who  assert  that 
prices  are  down  where  a  further  reduction  in 
values  is  not  1  keiy;  hence  they  feei  that  un- 
less Fome  unlooked-for  disaster  befa:ls  the 
i.1  •••neral  business  mterestsof  the  country,  that 
ai;y  i-licnge  that  occurs  will  be  in  the  direc- 
tion of  a  more  healthy  trade.  The  produc- 


tion in  the  future  is  also  likely  to  be  gauged 
with  a  direct  reference  to  current  more  than 
prospective  wants. 

SCALES  AND  WAREHOUSE    TRUCKS. 

LIBERAL   ORDERS. 

This  line  of  business,  although  not  exempt 
from  the  influences  which  have  adversely 
affected  other  branches  in  many  localities, 
has,  on  the  whole,  not  only  maintained  its 
former  large  volume,  but  shows  an  increase 
over  previous  years, the  losses  in  sales  to  local- 
ities where  poor  crops  lessened  trade  of  all 
kinds  being  more  than  compensated  by  an  in- 
crease in  other  quarters.  Business  with  Nebras- 
ka, Kansas,  Missouri,  Minnesota,  and  Dakota 
was  very  gjod.  During  the  closing  half  o  the 
year  liberal  orders  were  filled  from  Oregon 
and  other  sections  of  the  Pacific  slopa.  The 
establishments  making  such  good%  especially 
scale-"  and  trucks,  have  also  increased  their 
production,  but,  like  most  other  goods, 
prices  have  been  close,  yet  the  general  result 
was  not  unsatisfactory.  Were  it  not  for  the 
exorb  tant  freights  to  the  Pacific  coast  a 
much  larger  volume  of  goods  could  have 
been  sold  in  that  direction,  as  well  as  to 
South  and  Central  America,  New  Zealand 
and  Australia,  where  American  seal  s  are 
preferred  to  any  other,  and  are  the  recog- 
nized standard  wherever  they  are  intro- 
duced. Chicago-made  trucks  for  stores, 
warehouses,  and  factories  are  also  received 
with  great  favor,  their  lightness,  combined 
with  great  strength,  due  to  the  su- 
perior materials  used  in  their  manu- 
facture, renders  them  universally  popular. 

WAGONS  A-.D  TRUCKS. 

SALE   AND   MANUFACTURE. 

The  manufacture  of  farm  and  transporta- 
tion wagons,  merchandise  trucks,  and  all 
other  classes  of  heavy  vehicles  devoted  to 
commercial  and  construction  purposes  is  an 
industry  that  had  its  origin  almost  with 
the  birth  of  tho  city,  and  has  grown  up  with 
it.  There  are  very  few  other  industrial  in- 
terests whose  products  have  had  so  extended 
a  sale  or  enjoy  such  a  wide  degree  of  popu- 
larity. Chicago  wagons  are  as  well  known  in 
South  and  Central  America,  New  Zealand, 
Australia,  and  South  Afiica  as  in  the  United 
States,  and  each  year  brings  an  increased 
number  of  orders  from  those  countries.  Eu- 
ropean dealers  are  also  small  buyers  here, 
and,  as  with  the  first  countries  named,  the 
sales  in  that  direction  are  on  the  increase, 
but  the  prejudices  of  Europeans  to  American 
goods,  in  connection  with  tlie  strong  opposi- 
tion of  makers  there  of  similar  articles",  lias 
rendered  their  introduction  slower,  and  our 
manufacturers  have  been  indifferent  about 
cultivating  trade  from  quarters  where  they 
had  to  combat  self-interest  and  prejudice, 
so  long  as  they  found  it  difficult  to  supply 
the  demand  from  customers  who  were  only 
too  anxious  to  buy,  and  in  most  cases  sent 
their  orders  considerably  in  advance  of  pro- 
duction. The  secret  of  the  popularity  of 
Chicago-built  vehicles  is  no  less  attributa- 
ble to  their  skillful  workmanship  than  to 
the  superior  stock  used.  Every  article  that 
enters  into  their  construction  is  selected  with, 
the  greatest  c:iie  by  intelligent  experts, 
whose  exclusive  duties  are  to  select  stocka 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


165 


Each  piece  of  timber  is  thoroughly  seasoned 
before  it  goes  to  the  factory,  the  custom  be- 
ing to  keep  several  years'  stock  on  hand,  and 
every  article  that  leaves  the  shops  carries 
with  it  a  g:u;uranty  of  perfection  as  regards 
durability. 

The  current  year's  business  shows  a  fairly 
satisfactory  increase  over  the  preceding  one, 
and  although  the  unsatisfactory  business 
outlook  in  many  quarters  rendered  manu- 
facturers conservative  about  soliciting  busi- 
ness, yet  at  times  they  were  unable  to  fill 
large  orders  with  promptness,  and  the  pro- 
prietor of  one  of  the  largest  works  states  that 
during  a  portion  of  the  year  he  found  it 
necessary  to  employ  an  extra  force, 
and  lengthened  the  working  hours 
10  per  cent  to  enable  him  to  respond 
to  the  calls  for  goods,  the  largest  increase  in 
the  demand  being  for  farm  wagons  from  the 
newly  developing  sections  of  the  Southwest, 
far  West,  and  Northwest,  the  sales  to  Dakota, 
Montana,  and  the  Canadian  Provinces  of 
Manitoba  and  Northwest  Territory  being 
very  large.  The  increased  trade  from  the 
two  last-named  districts  was  remarkable 
from  the  fact  that  the  Canadian  wagon- 
makers  in  the  older  provinces  have  secured 
the  placing  of  a  heavy  duty  on  all  such  aroods 
from  the  United  States,  and  the  fact  that 
Chicaaro  makers  are  steadily  increasing  their 
sales  in  that  direction  furnishes  conclusive 
proof  as  to  the  superiority  of  their  goods. 
The  demand  for  wagons  from  Mexico  for 
farming  arid  mining  pu;  poses  has  also  largely 
increased,  and  letters  from  that  country- 
give  assurance  that  the  present  demand  is 
merely  the  beginning  of  a  trade  that  will  de- 
velop as  our  railroad  connections  are  ex- 
tended and  general  commercial  relations  be- 
come more  intimate  by  the  .means  of  re- 
ciprocal compacts.  The  general  average 
prices  for  leading-  articles  are  slightly  lower 
tlum  last  year,  the  decline  being  about  in 
proportion  to  the  reduction  in  the  cost  of 
some  classes  of  materials. 

CARRIAGES   AND   BUGGIES. 

CHICAGO  THE  HEADQUABTEBS. 

Although  there  are  no  very  large  estab- 
lishments here  devoted  to  the  manufacture  of 
pleasure  carriages  and  light  business  car- 
riages and  buggies,  there  are  numerous 
factories  of  respectable  size  where  their  pro- 
duction is  a  specialty,  and  whose  goods  take 
a  high  rank.  Their  annual  make  amounts  to 
a  large  aggregate.  While  Chicago  cannot 
claim  prestige  in  this  line  of  manufacture,  it 
can  justly  assert  its  supremacy  as  the  largest 
market  in  the  country  for  their  sale.  Every 
leading  establishment  in  the  Union  has  an 
agency  here,  and  with  some  of  the  most  ex- 
tensive it  is  their  virtual  headquarters  as  a 
distributing  point.  A  large  portion  of  their 
supplies  are  also  bought  here,  their 
factories  being  located  at  no  UT  -at 
distance  as  a  matter  of  economy 
in  the  way  of  securing  cheaper  building  sites 
for  their  plant  and  employes'  residences, 
lower  taxes  and  minimum  water  rates,  all  of 
which  are  important  factors  in  conducting  a 
large  industrial  enterprise.  Tne  fact,  how- 
ever, that,  as  be  f fare  stated,  the  supplies  are 
largely  bought  and  the  manufactured  goods 
sold  here  gives  the  city  as  substantial  benefits 
as  though  the  factories  were  within  its  lim- 
its. I'.oth  the  local  factories  and  the  distant} 
and  nearby-establishments  having  agencies 
here  have  had  a  large  trcde,their  shipments  of 


fine  goods  being  more  than  usually  heavy 
and  materially  above  any  former  year. 
Pr.ces,  however,  have  been  a  trifle  lower  on 
many  lines,  and  profits  scarcely  up  to  the 
average  of  more  prosperous  periods.  A  feat- 
ure of  the  trade  was  the  very  large  increase 
in  the  demand  for  fine  work  of  every  class, 
those  who  have  occasion  to  buy  such  goods 
no  doubt  feeling  that  there  is  no  economy  in 
buying:  cheap,  rough,  poorly-made  articles. 
The  increasing  wealth  in  the  older  and  more 
populous  sections  of  the  country  is  also 
proving  an  important  factor  in  stimulating 
the  demand  for  expensive  carriages  and 
other  vehicles  kept  for  business  and  pleasure. 

SAFES,    VAULTS,    AND     LOCKS. 

VEET  LAEGE   SALES. 

Although  the  manufacture  of  bank  and 
office  safes,  vaults,  and  locks  is  not  conducted 
here  on  a  scale  commensurate  with  other  in- 
dustries, Chicago  uses  more  of  such  goods 
than  any  other  city  outside  of  New  York,  In 
addition  it  is  the  largest  distributing  point 
on  the  continent  Every  leading  establish- 
ment making  such  articles  has  one  or  more 
large  warehouses  here,  whose  agents  sell  to 
all  parts  of  the  country,  from  the  Alleghanies 
west  to  the  Pacific  slope  and  north  to  Hud- 
son Bay  and  Puget  Sound,  south  to  the  Mex- 
ican Gulf.  Numerous  export  orders  are  also 
taken  here,  and  goods  are  sent  to  Mexico, 
South  and  Central  America,  and  other  coun- 
tries. Large  sales  of  locks  are  made  to  Aus- 
tralia. The  current  year's  trade,  while  to  a 
considerable  extent  "lessened  by  the  unsatis- 
factory condition  of  business  in  many  parts 
of  the  country,  and  especially  in  the  northern 
portion  of  this  and  immediately  adjoining 
States,  where  the  crops  were  a  partial  fail- 
ure, sales  were  materially  increased  by  the 
rapid  augmentation  of  population  and  build- 
ing up  of  towns  in  the  newly  settled  States 
and  Territories  and  the  extension  of  crade 
into  sections  that  have  not  heretofore  been 
visited  by  representatives  of  Chicago  dealera 
This  newly  derived  custom  swelled  the  ag- 
gregate sales  for  the  year  to  a  larger  volume 
and  valuation  than  those  of  any  previous 
twelve  months,  and  the  general  result  has 
been  very  satisfactory  to  the  houses  hand- 
ling such  goods. 

MACHINERY,  ETC. 

LABGEB  THAN  EVEE  BEFOEE. 

The  manufacture  of  all  kinds  of  engines, 
boilers,  and  everything  that  is  generally 
classed  under  the  head  of  machinery  has 
been  conducted  on  a  larger  scale  than  in  any 
former  year  in  the  history  of  this  city.  The 
majority  of  the  largest  manufactories  have 
been  running  full  time  all  the  year,  and  the 
amount  of  goods  turned  out  showed  an  in- 
crease of  10  per  cent  over  the  preceding 
year,  which  was  regarded  as  one  of  the 
heaviest.  The  increase  was  not  a  surprise, 
as  the  steady  growth  and  development  of 
the  Northwest  and  West  is  constantly  requir- 
ing more  machinery  of  all  descriptions,  and 
as  the  Chicago  manufacturers  are  always  on 
the  alert  for  new  fields  in  which  to  sell  their 
products  they  have  succeeded  in  obtaining 
the  bulk  of  the  business.  Although  more 
territory  has  been  covered,  the  aggregate  value 
of  the  sales  does  not  show  any  gain  over 


16t> 


.     CHICAGO'S  FiKST  HALF  CENTl'ltV. 


those  or'  the  preceding  year,  as  the  decline  in 
prices  at  which  the  majority  of  goods  were 
tod  on  account  of  the  severe  compe- 
Ut  on  and  the  natural  reaction  from 
i  he  extreme  prices  of  former  years  balanced 
the  gain  in  the  sales.  Manufacturers  as  a 
rule  carried  larger  stocks  of  engines,  boilers, 
and  general  machinery  during  the  greater 
part  of  the  season,  but  at  the  close  they  were 
not  in  excess  of  former  years.  In  mining 
macaineiy  the  business  during  the  first  half 
of  tne  year  was  lighter  on  account  of  the 
large  number  of  wildcat  mines  being  put  on 
the  market,  which  made  legitimate  mines 
hold  off  for  a  time,  but  during  the  closing 
six  months  the  former  were  largely  weeded 
out  and  a  large  summer  and  fall  business 
was  transacted,  sales  being  made  throughout 
the  West  and  also  in  Mexico,  as  the  mines  in 
that  country  are  being  rapidly  developed. 

Boiler-makers  as  a  rule  enjoyed  a  good 
season,  as  regards  the  amount  manufactmed 
and  sold,  which  was  larger  than  in  former 
years.  Orders  were  filled  from  the  far  West 
and  Southwest,  where  in  former  years  noth- 
ing of  consequence  could  be  sold.  The  com- 
petition between  manufacturers  from  all 
sections  was  never  as  severe  as  during  the 
year  under  review,  and  as  a  natural  conse- 
quence the  purchasers  reaped  the  benefit 
Manufacturers  were  forced  to  pay  as  much 
for  producing  as  formerly,  but  the  decrease 
in  the  cost  of  the  raw  material  partly  recom- 
pensed them. 

Wrought  iron  pipe  was  produced  to  a  larger 
extent,  and  the  sales  were  heavier,  as  they 
were  pushed  freely  in  all  directiona  One 
new  and  important  feature  in  this  line  was 
the  liberal  shipments  of  pipe  into  Canada, 
which  it  has  been  impossible  to  do  for  five 
years,  on  account  of  the  low  price  of  iron, 
and  as  long  as  it  continues  at  the  present  low 
rates  Canadian  manufacturers  cannot  com- 
pete with  the  American  in  any  market 

AGRICULTURAL    DEPARTMENTS. 

CHICAGO  LEADS  THE  WOELD. 

The  large  increase  in  the  acreage  of  land 
brought  under  cultivation  in  the  territory 
which  is  mainly  supplied  by  Chicago  manu- 
facturers of  farm  machinery  and  tools,  in 
connection  with  an  extended  trade  into 
many  new  section,  nas  imparted  a  good  de- 
gree of  activity  in  this  line  of  industry,  and* 
although  the  sales  were  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent curtailed  in  the  Central  and  Southern 
States  by  the  partial  failure  of  the  wheat 
crops,  the  aggregate  volume  of  business  done 
was  larger  than  in  any  preceding  year. 

A  marked  feature  in  th.3  trade  was  the  in- 
crease in  shipments  to  Manitoba,  and  other 
British  posse>sious  in  the  far  Northwest,  and 
were  it  not  for  the  heavy  duty  which  the 
Canadian  Government  imposes  on  all .  classes 
of  American  farming  implements,  a  much 
larger  business  could  have  been  done  in  that 
direction.  But  the  favor  with  which  Chicago 
machinery  has  been  received  there  justifies 
the  hope  that  our  trade  will  increase  with 
the  development  of  the  country,  which  prom- 
ises to  be  rapid. 

Mexico  is  also  increasing  its  purchases  here, 
and  will  continue  to  buy  more  freely  here- 
after, as  American  goods  are  fast  supersed- 
ing the  primitive  tools  so  ion?  in  usa  there. 
There  has  also  been  a  fair  gain  in  the  sales  in 
Europe,  South  aud  Central  America,  New 
Zealand.  Australia,  and  South  Africa. 

The  largestgain  in  shipment,  however, were 


to  the  Northwest  and  the  States  aud  Terri- 
tories west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  a 
steady  augmentation  may  ba  expected  from 
that  direction  in  the  future.  The  comple- 
tion of  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  nas 
opened  an  immense  area  of  county  that  will 
find  Chicago  an  advantageous  market  in 
which  to  buy  farm  implements,  as  its  por- 
tion as  the  great  railroad  center  gives  bett-sr 
and  cheaper  facilities  than  any  other  city  in 
the  country. 

The  superior  character  of  a  majority  o.  the 
machinery  and  tools  made  here  induces 
those  who  once  test  them  to  give  them  pref- 
erence. This  is  especially  the  case  in  regard 
to  all  classes  of  plows,  cultivators,  harvest- 
ers, and  mowers.  As  regards  tlie  last  two 
species  of  machinery  Chicago  can  justly  claim 
precedence  as  the  pioneer  citv,  as  the  first 
successful  effort  to  make  reapers  and  mowers 
was  consummated  here,  and  it  has  not  only 
maintained  the  lead  as  to  tha  number  of 
such  articles  annually  produced  and  sold, 
but  the  machines  have"  a  reputation  that  is 
world  wide,  their  superiority  being  univer- 
sally recognized.  The  production  of  the 
different  Jines  of  farm  implements  here  gives 
employment  to  thousands  of  operatives,  and 
represents  many  millions  of  dollars  in  cap- 
ital. 

BUILDING    MATERIALS. 

MANUFACTURE    OF  PRESSED    BRICK. 

The  manufacture  of  common  and  pressed 
brick  in  this  city  was  the  heaviest  of  any 
year  on  record,  and  aggregated  325,000.000 
on  the  North,  West,  and  South  sides,  and  2O,- 
000,000  at  Pullman,  making  a  total  of  345.- 
000,000,  against  300,000,000  in  1882. 

The  number  of  tine  pressed  brick  mad  3  was 
3,446,000,  against  2,266,000  in  1882.  and 
had  it  not  been  for  the  destruction  of  the 
works  early  in  the  season  by  fire,  thereby 
causing  a  loss  of  four  months,  the  increa«  • 
would  have  been  larger.  There  was  also 
made  for  use  here  by  Chicago  brick-makers, 
who  have  yards  just  over  the  boundary  in 
Indiana,  13,500.000  common  red,  and  14,- 
500,000  red  pressed  bricks.  The  stock  on 
hand  at  the  close  of  the  year  was  larger  than 
usual,  being  reported  by  the  city  j-ards  at 
30.000,000  of  common  on  the  South  and 
West  Sides,  15,000,000  on  the  South  Side, 
and  1,000,000  line  pressed.  In  the  Indiana 
yards  the  stock  was  8,000,000  of  pressed 
nnd .  common.  The  season  for  making 
was  only  a  fair  one,  being 
very  wet  at  the  opening,  and 
the  average  number  of  days  worked  was 
120.  There  was  considerable  improveme:ic 
made  during  the  year  by  the  largest  maker-;, 
who  pu:  in  more  machinery  and  were  anx- 
ious to 

IMPROVE  THE  QUALITY 

of  their  brick,  and  more  fancy  were  made 
than  in  any  former  year.  Pate.it  dryers  have 
also  been  put  up,  which  will  enable  tliem  to 
run  in  any  kind  of  weather.  During  tha  fall 
new  works  were  erected  by  Chicago  brick- 
makers  at  Chester.  111.,  with  a  daily  capacity 
of  50,000.  and  at  Galewood  with  200.000 
capacity,  which  they  intend  to  sell  in  this 
city.  Prices  averaged  lower  than  in  1882. 
Common  sold  at  $7  to  $10.40  per  1,000,  and 
closed  at  $8.  Pressed  ranged  at  $18  to  $2S 
for  Indiana  pressed,  and  $30  to  $40  for  other 
make-.  The  manufacture  and  sale  of  lime 
in  this  city  and  in  the  West  and  Northwest 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


167 


for  the  past  year  was  the  largest  on  record. 
A  number  o:  o.d  kilns  hi  this  city  that  have 
been  idle  for  a  number  of  years  were  started 
;ibout  the  1st  ot  May,  and 'made  a  very  satis- 
factory run  as  far  as  the  production  was 
concerned.  The  new  firms,  however, 
were  anxious  to  push  sales,  and 
the  result  was  that  some  of  the  old  houses, 
who  have  had  things  for  a  number  of  years 
about  as  they  wanted  them,  did  not  do  so 
much  business  as  expected,  as  they  had  to 
divide  the  territory.  But  their  sales  were 
up  to  those  of  the  preceding  year.  Prices 
ranged  lower  at  05  to  90c  per  barrel  in  bulk, 
opening  at  the  highest  and  closing  at  the 
lowest. 

The  amount  of  lime  burned  in  this  city 
for  the  year  was  reponed  by  the  manu- 
facturers at  519.500  barrels.  There  were  also 
300.000  barrels  shipped  from  Wisconsin 
and  Indiana,  making  a  total  of  819,500  bar- 
rels consumed  here,  and  shows  an  increase 
of  about  15  per  cent  over  that  used  in  1882. 
THE  INTER  OCEAN  is  indebted  to  the  lime 
manufacturers  along  the  Mississippi  River, 
from  Qutncy  northward,  including  thewoiks 
in  Northern  Missouri,  Illinois,  and  Southern 
Wisconsin,  for  their  prompt  replies  to  re- 
quests for  their  production  for  the  year,  and 
the  aggregate  is  1,800,000  barrels,  an  in- 
crea^e  over  1882  of  10  per  cent,  due  chiefly 
to  toe  erection  of  new  kilns.  Many  of  the 
work<  in  the  section  of  country  noted  above 
are 

CONTROLLED   BY   CHICAGO  CAPITALISTS. 

who  have  their  headquarters  here,  but  sell 
the  greater  part  of  their  production  through- 
put the  West,  and  have  sold  more  lime  dur- 
ing the  past  year  than  in  any  former  one, 
but  the  profits  were  not  so  large  on  account 
of  prices  ruling  lower. 

The  manufacture  of  cements  was  larger 
than  in  any  former  year,  the  works  being 
crowded  to  their  greatest  capacity  and  a 
number  of  new  ones  were  erect  jd,  and  some 
that  have  been  idle  for  years  started  again. 
The  amount  manufactured  in  the  West  was 
1,200,000  brls,  which  was  one-third  over 
last  year. 

There  was  also  a  larger  amount  of  Portland, 
Me.,  and  imported  cement  sold  and  used 
here  than  formerly.  The  consumption  of  all 
kinds  of  cement  is  year.y  increasing,  espe- 
cially in  this  city,  but  more  was  sold  all  over 
the  Northwest  than  ever  before,  and  al- 
though the  receipts  here  were  unusuallv 
heavy  it  was  rattier  difficult  at  times  for 
some  dealers  to  till  orders  for  certain  brands 
promptly.  The  season  closed  with  about  the 
same  amount  of  stock  on  hand  as  in  previous 
years.  Prices  averaged  lower,  ranging  from 
$ 1.25  to  $1.40  per  brl  for  common  cement  in 
a  jobbing  way  and  closad  at  $1.25,  at  which 
figures  manufacturers  as  a  rule  have  been 
aide  to  make  a  fair  profit,  and  generally  ex- 
press themselves  as  satisfied  with  their  year's 
work. 

LAND   PLASTER  WAS   CONTROLLED 

by  a  combination  of  manufacturers  in  Michi- 
gan, who  made  prices  as  they  saw  fit,  but  the 
average  was  lower,  with  sales  and  produc- 
tion larger.  Plastering  hair  was  used  to  a 
greater  extent  than  formerly,  and  prices 
showed  little  variation  Irom  the  preceding 
year.  A  new  substitute  known  as  vegetable 
fiber,  which  is  said  to  be  made  of  manilla, 
was  put  on  the  market,  and  although  offered 
at  less  than  half  the  cost  of  hair,  plasterers 
were  backward  about  purchasing,  being  in 
doubt  as  to  how  it  would  work,  and  were  in- 
clined to  let  some  one  else  try  the  exper.ment 


to  determine  the  lasting:  qualities  claimed 
for  it  by  the  manufacturers. 

SASH,    DOORS,    BLINDS,    ETC. 

THE    LAKGE     INCREASE 

in  the  number  of  buildings  erected  in  this 
city  and  throughout  the  West  created  a  good 
demand  for  all  descriptions  of  sash,  doors, 
blinds,  etc.,  and  sales  were  larger  than  in 
any  former  year.  The  manufacture  was 
greater,  on  account  of  the  gain  in  the  saies. 
but  dealers  were  able  to  fill  orders  prompt1  y. 
Prices  averaged  about  the  same  as  in  1 882. 
The  cost  of  lumber  suitable  for  suah  work 
was  well  maintained,  and  the  only  noticeable 
change  was  in  glazed  sash,  wh  ch!  on  account 
of  the  increased  cost  of  glass,  was  advanicd. 
The  year  closed  with  fair  stocks,  and  a 
moderate  trade,  and  good  prospacts  for  a 
large  business  the  incoming  year. 

WINES  AND  LIQJJORS. 

THE  PASSAGE  OF    STRINGENT  LAWS 

regulating  the  traffic  of  liquors  in  a  number  of 
States  has  had  a  tendency  to  decrease  the 
sales  of  whiskies  and  brandies  in  those  sec- 
tions. This  disturbing  element  in  the  trade, 
in  addit  on  to  the  large  stocks  on  hand  at  the. 
opening  of  tne  year,  caused  a  curtailment  of 
production  of  whisky,  and  distillers  say  that 
the  decrease  in  this  and  other  districts  in 
Illinois  has  been  fully  10  per  cent  below 
1882.  There  has,  however,  been  an  increased 
demand  for  native  wines,  which  are  rapidly 
growing  in  favor  with  consumers  to  the 
detriment  of  foreign  goods,  the  sales  of 
which  are  declining  as  the  American  goods 
increase.  The  manufacture  and  sale  of  beer 
has  been  large,  heavy  shipments  having  been 
made  to  all  parts  of  the  country. 

DRUGS    AND    CHEMICALS. 

THE  CENTER  OF  THE  JOBBING  TRADE. 

Although  Chicago  ranks  among  the  most 
healthy  cities  on  the  continent,  it  is  never- 
theless the  center  of  the  jobbing  trade  of  the 
United  States  for  the  sale  of  drugs,  and  all 
goods  used  for  medical  purposes.  As  in 
many  other  leading  lines  of  business,  how- 
ever, its  prestige  is  due  to  its  geographical 
advantages,  and  the  enterprise  of  thosa  who 
handle  such  articles,  rather  than  its  near 
vicinity  to  consumers.  A  canvass  of  the 
situation  deve.ops  the  fact,  that  while  the 
trade  during  the  year  just  closed  was  not. 
marked  by  the  same  degree  of  excitement, 
and  spirited  speculation,  that  characterize  I 
the  business  of  the  twelve  mouths  immedi- 
ately preceding,  the  result  lias  on  the 
whole  been  more  satisfactory  to  jobbers 
Prices  have  shown  more  regularity,  hencs: 
goods  were  handled  with  less  risk.  The 
average  prices  however,  were  lower  than  in 
1882.  There  was  also  greater  caution  in 
buying  stocks,  which  enabled  jobbers  to 
keep  on  a  more  secure  basis,  and  rendered 
them  conservative  about  granting  credits. 
The  result  of  the  latter  course  was  to  di- 
minish losses  from  bad  debts,  and  to  some 
extent  lessen  expenses,  that  always  show  a 
high  percentage  when  there  is  a  strong 
competition  among  dealers,  to  secure  buyers 
for  goods  with  wliioh  they  are  overstocked. 
But  while  there  was  less  eagerness  to  sell 
goods,  the  general  aggregate  of  business  was 
fully  up  to  that  of  1882.  This  may  bschietly 


108 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


attributed  to  a  material  increase  in  new  ac- 
counts, opened  with  customers  in  the  North- 
west and  \\e«t,  especially  with  Montana, 
Idaho,  Washington  and  Oregon.  The  South- 
west Territories  and  California,  also  increased 
their  purchases  to  a  fair  extent.  Some  of  the 
above  noted  sections  were  not  open  to 
Chicago  jobbers  until  late  in  the  year,  there- 
fore they  have  not  been  able  to  secure  much 
of  the  custom,  but  during  the  ensuing  year 
a  strong  effoit  will  be  made  to  obtain  con- 
trol of  the  largest  part  of  it.  Our  job- 
bers never  fail  in  their  efforts  to  secure 
trade,  and  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that 
they  will  be  successful  in  this  venture. 

BUSINESS  OF   SEVEN  HOUSES. 

There  are  now  seven  houses  in  toe  jobbing 
trade,  with  an  aggregate  capital  of  $1,500,- 
000,  and  their  annual  sales  reach  $7,000,- 
000.  Although  prices  on  nearly  all  articles 
have  declined  during  the  year,  the  shrinkage 
was  less  marked.  Quinine  opened  in  January 
at  $1.85  per  ounce,  declined  in  May  to  $1.65, 
which  was  the  lowest  point  ever  reached  in 
tnis  market.  In  June  it  advanced  to  $1.85, 
and  remained  steady  until  the  close  of  the 
year.  During  1882  the  range  was  $1.85  to 
92. 55,  and  cloaecl  at  the  inside  figure.  Opium 
sold  at  the  opening  in  January  at  $4. 50  per 
pound,  declined  in  July  to  $4,  reacted  in  Au- 
gust to  $4. 1 0  to  $4. 20,but  afterward  weakened 
and  closed  at  $4.  The  range  for  1882  was 
$4. 15  to  $4. 75,  and  closed  at  $4. 50.  Iodide 
of  potassium  sold  at  $1.50  per  pound  in 
January,  but  on  account  of  an  increase  in 
the  manufacture  the  price  was  lowered  to 
$1.35.  Cincbonidia  (sulphate),  which  is 
used  as  a  substitute  for  quinine,  was  offered 
more  freely  tban  in  former  years,  and  de- 
clined from  $1.05  to  85c  per  ounce  in  sym- 
pathy with  quinine.  Small  flake  manna 
showed  about  the  heaviest  fluctuation  of 
anything  on  the  list.  It  opened  in  January 
at  55c  per  pound,  and  advanced  on  account 
of  the  scarcity  to  $1.50  to  $1.60,  a  heavy 
increase  in  the  manufacture,  brought  about 
by  the  high  prices,  caused  a  decline  in  No- 
vember to  $1.25  to  $1.30,  and  closed  with  a 
fair  supply  at  the  last  named  prices.  Es- 
sential oils  were  severely  effected  by  a  re- 
duction or  the  import  duty.  Lemon  oil  sold 
down  in  July  from  $8  per  pound  to  $2  to 
$2.25,  and  other  oils  of  the  same  class  de- 
clined in  about  like  proportion. 

CASTOR  ortj, 

however,  was  an  exception  to  the  general 
rule,  and  advanced  from  $1. 16  per  gallon  for 
No.  I.  to  $1.38,  on  account  of  the  short  crop 
of  cantor  beans  (from  which  the  oil  is  made), 
and  the  formation  of  a  combination  of 
manufacturers,  who  took  advantage  of  the 
situation  to  increase  their  profits.  Nor- 
wegian cod-liver  oil  sold  from  $2.50  per 
gallon  to  $3.75,  as  the  supply  was  not  equal 
to  the  consumptive  demand.  Quassia  chips, 
gentian  root,  and  prairie  brava,  which  at- 
tracted so  much  attention  last  year  as  a  sub- 
stitute for  hops,  were  not  called 
for  to  any  extent,  and  prices 
showed  little  variation.  Borax  was 
offered  more  f reely,  and  declined  from  15c  to 
13c  per  pound.  Gums  of  all  description  aver- 
aged a  shade  lower.  Sulphur  declined  i^c 
per  pound,  as  the  production  was  increased 
over  that  of  former  years,  and  the  combina- 
tion which  controlled  the  market  broken. 
The  consumption  was  also  larger,  especially 
on  the  Western  sheep  ranches.  Chloroform 
and  chloride  of  lime  also  showed  a  fair  ad- 
vance, especially  on  the  latter,  which  was 
used  in  larger  quantities  ttan  usual.  Glycer- 


ine declined  3c  to  4c  per  pound,  under  the 
influence  of  an  increased  production.  All 
descriptions  of  arabic  gums  showed  a  small 
decline.  Chemicals  and  all  assayers'  goods 
exhibited  about  the  usual  volume  of  busi- 
ness, and  prices  were  comparatively  steady. 

THE  BEOKEBAOE  BUSINESS.  " 

In  addition  to  the  jobbing  trade  in  drugs 
and  chemicals,  there  was  a  very  large  and 
steadily  increasing  business  transacted  by  - 
commission  agents  and  drug  brokers,  repre- 
senting Eastern  importers  and  foreign  manu- 
facturers who  were  anxious  to  extend  their 
trade  in  the  West,  and  in  order  to  do  so  were 
forced  to  keep  agents  in  this  city  with  good 
stocks  of  specialties  that  jobbers  as  a  rule  do 
not  carry.  In  former  years  they  had  to  order 
these  from  the  East,  which  created  consider- 
able annoyance  and  delay,  but  now  every- 
thing in  tb  i  line  of  drugs  and  chemicals  not 
ordinarily  handled  by  jobbers  can  be  ob- 
tained from  the  brokers  and  commission 
merchants  here  promptly.  The  sales  of  the 
latter  reach  $1,000,000— a  large  increase 
over  any  previous  year. 

PAINTS    AND    COLORS. 

A  LABGE   BUSINESS. 

In  the  manufacture  of  paints,  colors,  putty, 
and  white  lead  Chicago  does  a  very  large 
business.  Twenty-five  years  ago  very  little 
business  in  the  way  of  making  paints  was 
done  in  the  West,  and  all  the  stock  sold  at 
that  time  came  from  the  East.  Since  then, 
however,  there  has  been  a  steady  growth, 
and  now  sufficient  is  made  here  annually  to 
supply  all  the  Western  trade,  and  very  little 
stock  is  brought  from  the  East.  The  manu- 
facture of  putty  was  started  about  twenty- 
five  years  ago  on  a  small  scale,  and  only 
seven  tons  per  week  could  be  made,  but  now 
the  works  nave  a  capacity  of  100  tons  per 
week.  During  the  year  under  review  the 
manufacture  of  paints,  colors,  etc., 
was  larger  than  any  of  the  preced- 
ng  ones,  and  heavier  stocks  were 
carried  for  the  bulk  of  the  year.  The  volume 
of  business  was  not  up  to  their  anticipations, 
and  in  fact  was  less  than  in  1882.  The  pro- 
duction was  curtailed,  which  enabled  job- 
bers to  redu  :e  their  stocks  to  a  better  work- 
ing basis,  but  should  there  be  a  heavy  in- 
crease in  the  trade  no  difficulty  would  De  ex- 
perienced in  supplying  all  the  stock  wanted, 
as  the  production  could  be  enlarged  suffi- 
ciently for  all  the  trade.  Prices  of  paints 
ruled  lower  than  during  the  previous  year, 
as  much  stock  was  forced  on  the  market, 
which  caused  a  reduction  of  5@8  per  cent 
Carodersof  white  lead,  of  which  there  are  two 
in  this  city,  reported  a  liberal  business,  but 
the  grinders  done  very  little.  The  margins 
were  too  slight  and  stock  could  be  had  from 
the  caroders  cheaper  than  they  could  make 
it.  Prices  i  anged  from  5*2  to  6c  per  Ib.  with 
6c  the  rul  ing  figure  the  greater  part  of  the 
year. 

OILS. 

UNSEED   OIL. 

Linseed  oil  crushers  did  not  enjoy  as  satis- 
factory a  business  as  in  1882.  The  competi- 
tion was  greater,  and  the  unsettled  condition 
of  the  flaxseed  market  served  to  keep  prices 
of  that  commodity  above  a  point  which  made 


CHICAGO'S  FIE8T  HALF  CENTUKY. 


169 


it  impossible  for  crushers  to  purchase  and 
produce  oil  at  a  profit.  The  capacity  of  the 
mills  was  increased  30  per  cent  during  the 
year  by  the  erection  of  new  ones  and  enlarg- 
ing five  of  the  old  mills.  Of  the  new  ones 
erected,  one  was  in  this  city,  one  at  Kansas 
City,  and  one  at  Sioux  City,  making  over 
sixtv-tive  mills  in  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois.  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  and 
Kansas.  The  production  was  the  largest  of 
any  year  in  the  history  of  the  West, 
and  showed  an  increase  of  15  per  cent 
Although  the  demand  was  large,  especially 
from  July  to  November,  the  consumption  did 
not  keep  pace  with  the  production,  and  the 
result  has  been  the  accumulation  in  stocks 
since  that  time. 

The  range  of  prices  for  the  year  was  nar- 
rower than  in  previous  ones,  as  there  was 
less  speculation,  and  more  desire  on  the  part 
of  consumers  to  buy  only  as  their  wants  re- 
quired Raw  sold  in  Januiry  at  49  to  50 
cents  per  gallon,  and  boiled  at  52  to  53  cents, 
which  was  the  lowest  price  of  the  year. 
From  that  time  there  was  a  gradual  advance 
until  the  last  of  March,  when  55  cents  was 
reached  for  raw.  and  58  cents  for  boiled;  in 
July  a  decline  to  53  to  56  cents  occurred, 
but  in  October  the  market  became  firmer, 
and  prices  advanced  1  cent,  and  closed  at  54 
cents  for  raw.  and  57  cents  for  boiled,  .The 
range  of  raw  oil  in  1882  was  49  to  63  cents 
per  gallon,  and  of  boiled  at  52  to  66  cents, 
and  for  1881  was  50  to  63  cents  for  raw, 
and  53  to  66  cents  for  boiled,  The  consump- 
tion of  oil  cake  in  the  United  States  and 
Europe  was  large,  and  is  increasing  very  fast, 
as  its  value  for  fattening  cattle  is  becoming 
wide-spread.  The  exports  to  Europe  and 
Great  Britain  were  heavier  than  in  any 
former  year,  and  more  was  used  at  home. 
Prices  showed  little  change  from  those  of 
1882,  but  the  range  was  not  so  large.  Sales 
for  the  year  were  at  $21.50  to  $26  per  ton, 
and  closed  at  $25.  In  1882  the  range  was 
$22  to  $28,  and  closed  at  $22. 

LARD   OIL. 

As  Chicago  leads  the  world  in  the  provision 
trade  and  annually  slaughters  more  hogs 
than  any  other  point,  it  is  natural  that  the 
business  of  making  lard  oil  should  be  con- 
ducted on  a  larger  scale  here  than  at  other 
points.  The  lard  can  be  had  here  in  greater 
quantitiesjwith  less  expense  in  handling  ;hence 
the  Chicago  lard  oil  presses  are  able  to  suc- 
cessfully compete  with  other  points,  and  have 
succeeded  in  securing  a  very  good  and  grow- 
ing trade.  This  has  been  concentrated  into  a 
few  large  hands,  and  many  of  the  smaller 
presses  have  been  driven  out  of  the  business. 
The  manufacture  of  oil  the  past  year  was 
heavier  than  in  any  preceding  one.  The  ca- 
pacity of  the  packers  who  have  gone  into 
this  line  of  late  years,  was  in  a  few  instances 
nearly  doubled,  and  enough  oil  is  annually 
made  here  now  to  supply  the  Western  trade. 
Prices  were  very  unsettled  on  account  of  the 
rapid  arid  severe  fluctuations  in  the  lard 
market  and  ranged  lower  than  for  the  past 
two  years.  The  demand  was  good  and  the 
aggregate  sales  showed  u  small  increase  over 


1882.  The  monthly  range  of  prices  for  the 
past  four  years  for  extra  were  as  follows: 

1883.  1882.  1881.  1880. 

January. .  80  to  88             90  72  to  76  65  to  70 

February.. 8 8  to  90  88  to  90  78  to ^83  65 

March 88  to  90  86  to  88  83  to  86  65 

April 88  to  90  88  to  90  82  to  86  60  to  62 

May 88  to  92              90  80  to  82  58  to  60 

June 78  to  88  90  to  93  78  to  80  55 

July 73to78  93  to  98  83  to  87  54 

August.... 67  to  73  94  to  96  86  to  88  58  to  67 

September  63  to  67  94  to  96  92  to  $1  65 

October  ...           63  96  to  $1               97  68  to  72 

November. 631o  65  93  to  98              93  70 

December  65  to  70  88  to  93  90  to  93  70 

TURPENTINE. 

The  market  for  spirits  of  turpentine  ex- 
hibited no  new  feature  during  the  year  under 
review.  The  production  was  large  and  sales 
and  consumption  fully  equal  to  the  previous 
years.  There  was  less  speculation,  as  parties 
who  have  in  the  past  manipulated  the  market, 
did  not  like  the  outlook  at  the  time  when 
thev  usually  took  hold.  The  result  has  been 
a  more  even  set  of  prices,  and  a  trade  closely 
adjusted  to  the  wants  of  consumers.  The 
range  of  prices  was  downward,  and  touched 
the  lowest  point  since  1880,  and  closed  at 
nearly  the  bottom,  a  decline  of  nearly  21c 
per  gallon.  The  following  show*  the  monthly 
range  of  prices  for  the  past  four  years  in  this 
market: 

1883.         1882.         1881.         1880. 
January.. .55  to  57    57  to  58    ...to  51    47  to  48 
February..  55  to  56     ...to  56    47  to  49    43  to  45 

March 52  to  55    58  to  64    48  to  50    48  to  53 

April 50  to  53    59  to  71    42  to  46    34  to  57 

May 41  to  49    49  to  56    39  to  40    28  to  35 

June 39  to  41     49  to  50    42  to  47    28  to  :*2 

July 40  to  41     48  to  50    45  to  47    28  to  31 

August .  ...40  to  45    48  to  50    48  to  55    30  to  38 

Sept 42  to  44    47  to  51    56  to  57    38  to  42 

October  .  ..42  o  43  51  to  59  55  to  57  42  to  48 
November. 40  to  42  56  to  59  58  to  60  ...  48 
December. 36  to  38  54  to  56  58  to  59  ...  50 

MISCELLANEOUS  OILS. 

There  was  a  liberal  business  transacted  in 
machine,  bank,  sperm,  and  other  descrip- 
tions of  oils.  Sales  showed  no  special  in- 
crease over  those  of  the  previous  year.  The 
supply  was  at  all  times  sufficient  to  fill  or- 
ders promptly,  and  prices  remained  about 
the  sa/meas  in  1882. 

COTTON   SEED   OIL. 

Trade  in  cotton  seed  oil  was  not  as  heavy 
as  anticipated  at  the  opening  of  the  year, 
when  the  price  of  lar'd  was  high,  and  the 
prospect  for  a  large  business  very  flattering. 
The  heavy  decline  in  lard,  that  started  in 
June,  caused  a  falling  off  in  the  home 
demand,  as  consumers  who  would  not 
pay  the  high  price  for  lard  when  cotton  seed 
oil  could  be  ootained  at  a  liberal  discount, 
refused  to  purchase  the  oil  as  freely  when  the 
price  of  lard  and  cotton  seed  became  about 
the  same,  thus  decreasing  the  consumption. 
The  export  demand  was  also  less  than  antici- 
pated, while  the  production  showed  an  in- 
crease. The  number  of  tons  of  cotton  ssed 
harvested  the  past  year  was  3,000,000  tons. 
1,000,000  tons  of  which  were  crushed,  and 
produced  600,000  barrels  of  oil.  Prices 
ranged  lower.  Refined  oi;  opened  at  70c  per 
gallon  and  closed  at  52c,  with  good  stocks. 
Liberal  sales  of  cotton  seed  soap  .«tock  were 
made  to  soap-makers,  and  the  prices  decline  d 
to  2@3c  per  tt>. 

CARBON  OILS. 

The  trade  in  petroleum  did  not  attract  as 
much  attention  during  the  year  just  closed 
as  in  the  two  immediately  preceding  om  9 
The  flow  of  crude  was  large,  but  not  up  t  > 
that  of  1882,  as  a  smaller  number  ot  new- 
wells  were  bored  and  no  new  oU 


170 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


fields  discovered,  as  was  the  case 
in  the  preced  ng  year.  Although  there 
was  a  very  large  speculative  business  trans- 
acted in  'crude,  price  <  were  confined  to  a 
narrower  range  and  fluctuations  less  fre- 
quent and  pevere.  The  sales  of  refined  in 
the  West  and  Northwest  were  heavier  than  in 
any  year  in  the  history  of  the  trade  in  the 
\VfSt,  as  th-j  population  is  increasing  and  a 
corresponding  gain  is  expected  in  the  con- 
sumption of  oil.  The  territory  covered  was 
larger  than  formerly,  more  oil  being  sent 
from  here  into  Manitoba  and  the  Northwest 
Territory.  Stocks  of  all  grades  were  ample 
for  the  demand  throughout  the  entire  year 
and  no  difficulty  was  experienced  in  filling 
orders  promptly,  The  amount  of  carbon  oil 
inspected  here  during  the  year  was  225.000 
brls  against  202,000  brls  in  1882,  184,000 
brlsin  1881,  and  119317  brls  in  1880. 
Prices  of  150  degrees  test  ranged  from  lOc 
to  ll^c,  and  closed  at  10%c.  The  monthly 
rang'e  of  prices  on  prime  white,  150  degrees 
test,  in  this  market  with  comparisons  were 
as  follows: 

1883.  1882. 

January @  1 0  *>    10 

March.  .".lo4@H12     ....(SJIO 
April....  10    (om~ 

May (oHO 

June 10 

July 1<>34 

Auzust..l<)34 


1880. 


.       9 

.(05  9 

9    (3,10*2 


lO 

I'234(0il4 
.<«.  934    12 
13 
15 


..(0)11 


.... 
....@1834 


11 
11 
Ilia 
IHi 

11  :i*io 

GASOLINE  AND  NAPHTHA. 

Sales  of  gasoline  and  naphtha  were  large, 
but  showed  no  particular  increase  over  those 
of  the  preceding  year.  The  supply  was  good, 
and  prices  ranged  lower;  87  degrees  gaso- 
line opened  at  20c,  declined  to  18c,  and 
closed  at  19c;  74  degrees  opened  at  13^0, 
so. d  off  to  ll^c,  and  closed  at  that  price. 
Naphtha,  63  degrees,  opened  at  lO^c.  de- 
clined to  and  closed  at  O^c. 

GLASS. 

The  business  of  Chicago  jobbers  in  glass 
for  the  year  just  closed  was  without  an  ex- 
ception the  largest  on  record,  and  sales 
showed  an  increase  of  20  per  cent  over  those 
of  1882,  which  were  25  per  cent  over  1881. 
There  were  three  strictly  jobbing  houses  en- 
gaged in  the  business,  and  their  sales  reached 
$2,500,000,  and,  including  all  the  glass  sold 
by  the  paint,  oil,  and  drug  jobbers,  would 
make  the  aggregate  be  over  $3,000,- 
000.  During  the  first  half  of  the  year  busi- 
ness was  comparatively  quiet,  on  account  of 
the  small  number  of  buildings  erected,  both 
here  and  in  all  parts  of  the  country  which 
depend  on  this  city  for  their  supplies,  but  the 
heavy  increase  during  the  six  months  fully 
made  up  for  the  backwardness  of  the  open- 
ing ones  Dealers  have  no  cause  to  complain 
about  their  sales  or  profits,  which  were  un- 
usually large.  They  carried  about  30  per- 
cent more  stock,  and  secured  it  when  prices 
were  low.  and  thus  reaped  the  advantage  of 
the  advance,  which  was  50  to  55  per 
cent  on  American  and  40  per  cent  on 
French  window.  The  advance  was  brought 
about  by  the  strike  of  the  glass-blowers 
in  the  East,  which  closed  the  bulk  of  the 
American  factories  from  Juiy  1  to  the  close 
of  the  year.  The  action  taken  by  blowers 


enabled  the  manufacturers  to  dispose  of  their 
stock  at  good  prices,  and  caused  heavy  im- 
portations of  French  to  supply  the  deficiency 
in  the  stoak  here.  The  capacity  of  the  Ameri- 
can window-glass  f  actorie  <  is  large  enough 
to  meet  the  bulk  of  tha  requirements  of  the 
home  trade,  and,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
strike,  the  importations  the  past  year  would 
have  cut  but  little  figure  in  the  trade. 

The  sales  of  plate  glass  were  heavier,  as 
there  is  a  steadily  growing  call  for  it  from 
ail  sections.  The  amount  made  in  this  coun- 
try was  also  larger  than  in  former  years,  the 
ncrease  bei  ng  due  to  the  erection  of  a  large 
ew  f  aobory  near  Pittsburg,  Pa. ,  and  a  25  per 
cent  increase  in  the  capacity  of  the  largest 
worKs.  The  amount  now  made  by  American 
manufacturers  equals  about  five-eighths  of 
the  annual  sales.  Prices  ranged  30  per  cent 
higher,  the  advance  commencing  about  Sept. 
1.  The  importations  of  French  plate 
were  larger,  and  more  was  used,  but 
the  improvements  made  by  the  American 
manufacturers  is  yearly  reducing  the  sales  of 
the  foreign.  Prices  also  followed  the  Ameri- 
can, and  advanced  in  about  the  same  propor- 
tion. Mirrors  were  not  called  for  as  freeiy  as 
during  the  preceding  year,  but  no  percepti- 
ble falling  off  could  be  noted  in  the  amount 
of  sales.  The  call  was  chiefly  for  la  ge, 
square,  beveled-edged  plates  of  the  best 
quality.  Prices  of  fore  gu  were  irregular, 
ana  ranged  entirely  different  from  former 
years,  the  French  being  30  to  40  per  cent 
lower,  while  the  German  were  20  par  cent 
higher  on  account  of  the  latter  being  under 
the  control  of  a  syndicate. 

Fancy  and  colored  glass,  generally  known 
as  rolled  cathedral  and  antique,  met  with  a 
good  call,  and  prices  advanced  during  the 
closing  three  months  in  sympathy  with  other 
glass.  The  manufacture  of  colored  glass  in 
this  country  was  enhanced  by  the  starting  of 
a  large  factory  at  Boston,  but  not  enough  is 
made  to  supply  the  trade.  The  year  closes 
with  ample  stocks  in  the  hands  of  jobbers 
and  very  favorable  prospects  for  a  large 
business 'next  year. 

SOAP. 

LAUNDRY  AND  TOILET  GOODS. 

These  goods  have  met  a  large  sale  from 
every  part  of  the  country  and  their  produc- 
tion correspondingly  increased,  the  leading 
factories  having  materially  enlarged  their 
capacity  for  producing  both  laundry  and 
toilet  goods.  In  addition,  one  very  large 
establishment  has  been  built  for  manufac- 
turing the  latter.  The  cost  of  production  has 
also  been  lowered  by  the  reduced  cost  of 
lard,  tallow  and  other  material  that  enter  as 
factors  into  their  manufacture.  There  has 
also  been  considerable  improvement  in  the 
quality  of  all  the  leading  lines  of  goods,  and 
in  this  respect  Chicago  soaps  now  rank  equal 
to  the  finest  made  in" the  country.  Notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  Chicago  is  among  the 
largest,  if  not  the  largest  manufacturing 
point  in  the  country  for  such  goods,  large 
quantities  are  brought  here  from  the  Eastern 
and  Middle  States. 

JEWELRY     WATCHES,    ETC. 

A   TEN   PER   CENT  INCREASE. 

The  goods  classable  under  the  above  head 
may  be  regarded  more  strictly  as  luxuries 
than  any  other  line  of  articles,  hence  their 
sale  is  more  entirely  dependent  upon  the  con- 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


171 


dition  of  the  country  than  those  handled  by 
other  lines  of  trade,  as  jewelry  or  watches, 
and  ornamental  goods,  are  about  the  last 
articles  that  people  will  buy  when  their  in- 
come is  such  as  to  render  it  difficult  to  make 
both  ends  meet.  That  such  has  been  the  case 
with  a  large  majority  of  the  population  dur- 
ing the  vear  just  closing  is  beyond  a  doubt, 
hence,  as  a  necessary  consequence, the  demand 
lorsujh  goods  has  been  lessened  by  the 
diminished  ability  of  a  majority  of  those  who, 
in  prosperous  times,  are  liberal  customers  of 
those  who  handle  such  goods. 

Yet  in  spite  of  the  drawbacks  which  the 
business  has  suffered  from  the  causes  stated 
the  leading  houses  in  the  trade  place  their 
sales  at  10  per  cent  over  those  of  1882,  The 
gain,  however,  as  with  many  other  branches 
of  business,  may  be  ascr.byd  to  the  increased 
territory  canvassed  by  Chicago  jobbers,  who 
have,  so  to  speak,  thoroughly  worked  every 
portion  of  the  United  States  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  and  sometimes  have  been  freely  sold 
in  the  Atlantic  States.  A  considerable  trade 
has  a  so  come  from  Manitoba  and  Mexico. 
The  close  connection  now  being  made  by 
railroad  with  the  latter  country  also 
justifies  the  prediction  that  the  sale*  in 
tiiat  direction  will  rapidly  expand  in 
the  near  future,  as  the  facilities  of  Chicago 
jewelry  houses  for  supplying  dealers  in  that 
country  are  unequaled  by  those  of  any  other 
city  on  the  continent 

The  manufacture  of  many  lines  of  such 
goods  in  Chicago,  and  the  immediate  vicin- 
ity, has  been  materially  increased  during  the 
year,  and  the  aggregate  volume  and  value  of 
such  productions  is  an  important  factor  in 
the  city's  manufacturing  interest,  as  it  gives 
employment  to  a  large  number  of  operatives. 
Another  and  very  important  feature  in  con-  ' 
nection  with  the  tr  tde  is  the  large  import- 
ing business  in  watches,  diamonds,  and  other 
precious  stones,  which  trade  was  formerly 
controlled  by  jewelers  in  Eastern  cities. 

MUSICAL    INSTRUMENTS. 

LARGE   INCREASE   IN    SALES. 

The  sales  of  musical  instruments  are 
expected  to  depend  very  largely  on  the  con- 
dition of  other  lines  of  trade.  The  present 
year,  however,  seems  to  have  been  an  excep- 
tion to  the  general  rule,  as  dealers  in  such 
goods  report  an  increase  in  their  sales  vary- 
ing from  15  to  40  per  cent  over  those  in 
1882,  the  average  gain  on  pianos  baing  full 
25  per  cent.  The  demand  lias  also  been  more 
largely  for  high-grade  goods,  buyers  evi- 
dently having  become  convinced  that 
poor  musical  instruments,  and  especially 
-poor  pianos,  are  not  things  to  be 
desired,  hence  those  who  are  able  to  buy 
want  good  instruments  or  none.  A  major- 
ity of  such  goods  sold  here  are  made  in  the 
East,  yet  their  manufacture  in  Chicago  is 
ste  uli'ly  011  the  increase,  and  will  be  materi- 
ally enlarged  the  coming  year.  It  will,  how- 
ever, require  time,  combined  with  capital, 
courage  and  skill,  to  place  Chicago  on  an 
equal  footing  with  the  old  piano  factories  of 
the  East,  whose  goods  have  for  years  held  the 
tirst  estimation  of  those  who  use  such  instru- 
ments. But  the  success  that  has  heretofore 
attended  other  leading  enterprises  under- 
taken here  encourages  the  prediction  that 
success  in  this  line  is  ultimately  certain,  and 
that  it  will  be  attained  at  a  much  earlier 
period  than  many  imagine.  This  latter  con- 
clusion is  warranted  by  the  unparalleled  ex- 


pansion of  organ  manufacturing, which, with- 
in five  years,  has  grown  up  from  almost 
nothing  to  an  annual  production  of  3O,000 
instruments,  being  one-fourth  of  the  total 
made  in  the  whole  country.  The  superiority 
of  finish  and  fine  rich  tone  of  Chicago  organs 
recommends  them  wherever  introduced,  and 
instead  of  paying  Eastern  makers  hundreds 
of  thousand^  of  dollars  annually  for  >uch  in- 
struments, our  manufacturers  are  now  large 
sellers  in  the  Must.,  where  they  find  a  quick 
demand  at  remunerative  pricea  The  most 
popuiar  wood  used  in  the  construction  of 
fine  organs  is  black  and  satin  walnut,  both  of 
which  are  yearly  becoming  more  expensive. 
Hence  the  saving  to  Chicago  manufacturers 
by  having  their  own  forests,  from  which 
they  cut  the  lumber,  saw  with  their  own 
mills,  and  season  in  their  own  dryhouses, 
gives  them  superior  advantages  over'Eastern 
makers,  who  have  to  pay  exorbitant  prices 
for  materials.  It  is  proper  to  state  in  this 
connection  that  the  walnut  forests  above  re- 
ferred to  axe  located  in  the  most  densely  tim- 
bered portion  of  a  Southern  State,  and  were 
secured  years  since  at  a  merely  nom  ual 
price:  As  a  result  the  dry  'lumber"  delivered 
at  the  factories  costs  very  little  more 
than  a  good  article  of  North- 
ern pine.  As  regards  beauty  of 
finish  the  satin  walnut  has  few  if  any 
superiors  among  the  most  expensive  foreigii 
woods  whose  use  are  almost  prohibited  by 
their  enormous  cost,  and  it  is  surprising  taat 
American  lumbermen  and  wood-workers 
were  so  tardy  in  discovering  its  beauty  and 
intrinsic  value. 

Trade  in  other  classes  of  musical  goods  has 
been  irregular,  the  demand  during  the  fall 
being  fairly  satisfactory,  and  the  volume  of 
the  year's  sales  greater  than  last  year. 

BOOKS  AND  STATIONERY 

STANDARD   WORKS   TAKE  THE  PLACE  OF    TRASH. 

Trade  in  this  line  of  business  has  shown  a 
very  satisfactory  increase  over  any  former 
year,  and  the  gain  in  volume  and  value  of 
goods  sold  is  the  more  surprising  from  the 
fact  that  the  general  trade  situation  has  not 
been  as  favorable  as  could  be  desired.  A 
giatifying  feature  in  the  book  trade  has  been 
the  large  increase  in  the  demand  for  tne  high- 
est grade  of  standard  works,  while  the  more 
trashy  kinds  of  cheap  publications  show  a 
declining1  sale.  Buyers  of  the  better  class  of 
books  have  also  demanded  a  more  expansive 
style  of  wprkmansh.p  than  heretofore.  This 
demand  extends  to  the  traae  in  all  parts  of 
the  country.  The  dealer  on  the  We  tern 
frontier  is  no  less  persistent  in  his  order,  s  for 
finely  and  perfectly  finished  work  than  in  the 
same  line  in  the  large  towns  and  cities  in  the 
oldest  and  most  populous  portions  of  the 
country.  The  largest  improvement  in  sales 
was  in  the  West,  South,  and  Northwest,  al- 
though every  part  of  the  country  has  been  a 
free  buyer.  "Prices  show  little  change  from 
last  year.  Jobbers  say  they  have  in  .roduced 
more  than  the  usual  number  of  new  works 
with  good  success. 

*  Stationery,  wnich  is  a  collateral  line  of  the 
book  business,  has  also  shown  a  correspond- 
iner  improvement,  and,  as  with 
the  latter,  the  demand  has  been  for 
better  goods.  A  leading  dealer  said  that  he 


172 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST   HALF  CENTURY. 


had  never  before  sold  such  a  large  percent- 
age of  high-grade  articles  as  during  the  cur- 
rent year.  "There  is,"  he  said,  "a  great  dis- 
position to  ignore  poor  stock,  and  we  have 
sold  a  line  of  goods  to  border  towns  that  we 
never  before  supposed  could  be  introduced 
there."  There  has  also  been  a  considerable 
enlargement  in  the  number  of  articles  called 
for  from  Western  and  Northwestern  buyers, 
which  indicates  a  growing  disposition  among 
customers  in  the  newly  developing  portions 
of  the  country  to  gratify  their  tastes  for  finer 
goods,  which  have  heretofore  been  sold  ex- 
clusively in  the  more  wealthy  sections.  This 
is  especially  the  case  in  regard  to  expensive 
writing  materials  and  cards,  which  have  met 
an  unusuallv  large  demand. 

In  addition  to  the  liberal  volume  of  sales, 
dealers  say  their  business  was  never  before 
so  nearly  on  a  cash  basis  as  at  present;  hence 
they  reg'ard  the  outlook  for  the  coming  year 
as  full  of  promise,  the  situation  being  much 
improved  by  the  unusually  clean  and  fresh 
character  of  the  stocks  of  the  leading  estab- 
lishments in  the  trade.  Profits,  however, 
were  small.  This,  however,  induces  greater 
caution  in  conducting  business,  and  induces 
jobbers  to  carry  stocks  commensurate  with 
their  customers'  wants. 

The  Western  Paper  Trade  makes  the  fol- 
lowing estimates  of  the  trade  for  the  year  in 
the  articles  named: 

Paper $14,000,000 

Paperstock 3,465,OOO 

Books 8,250,000 

S  ationery 4,200,000 

Wall  paper '2,750.000 

Total ...  . . .  $3i>,  665, 000 

Last     year. 29,610,000 

TOYS. 

INCREASE   OF  MANUFACTUBE. 

A  canvass  among  the  leading  houses  dis- 
covers that  although  the  spring  and  early 
summer  sales  were  but  little  larger  than  for 
the  corresponding  period  in  1882,  the 
business  of  the  last  six  months  showed 
an  increase  of  25  per  cent,  and  was  on 
the  whole  very  sat.sfactory.  Formerly  a 
large  majority  of  these  goods  were  imported 


from  Europe,  where  the  cheapness  of  labor 
enabled  European  manufacturers  to  turn 
them  out  at  prices  that  prohibited  their  pro- 
duction on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  But  em- 
ployment of  machinery  in  the  American  toy 
factories  within  the  past  few  years  has 
wrought  a  complete  change  in  the  trade,  and 
the  imports  have  steadily'declined  until  it  is 
estimated  that  less  than  25  per  cent  of  such 
goods  sold  are  of  foreign  make,  and  this 
amount  promises  to  further  decrease  as 
Amer  can  toys,  aside  from  their  cheapness, 
are  manufactured  with  a  better  understand- 
ing of  the  tastes  of  those  for  whom  they  are 
intended, 

WOODEN    WILLOW    WARE,    ETC. 

SAT1SFACTOBY  BUSINESS. 

Under  the  head  of  wooden  ana  willow  ware 
a  large  number  of  articles  are  included,  which 
would  take  up  too  much  space  to  enumerate. 
Jobbers  in  this  line  reported  a  very  satis- 
factory business  throughout  the  year,  and 
their  sales  have  been  larger  than  those  of 
any  other  city  in  this  country,  and,  while 
showing  an  increase  of  about  5  per  cent  in 
the  amount  of  goods  sold,  the  aggregate 
value  was  about  tne  same  as  in  the  preced- 
ing year,  on  account  of  the  prices  as  a  rule 
being  lower.  Jobbers  carried  heavier  stocks 
than  formerly,  and  were  enabled  to  fill  all 
orders  promptly  and  satisfact  -rily.  The 
manufacture  of  wooden  ware  was  increased, 
and  the  quality  better  than  in  former  years. 
Prices  averaged  a  shade  higher  than  in  1882. 
The  call  for  baskets  of  all  descriptions 
showed  a  heavy  gain,  but  the  number  turned 
out  by  manufacturers  was  sufficient  for  all 
requirements  and  no  special  change  couid 
be  noted  in  prices.  In  the  broom  trade  Chi- 
cago leads  the  entire  country,  being  so  close 
to  the  base  of  supplies  that  manufacturers 
can  obtain  their  stocks  readily  and  find  a 
auick  market  for  their  productions.  The 
largest  broom  factory  in  the  United  States  is 
located  here,  and  has  a  daily  capacity  of  250 
to  300  dozen,  and  there  are  also  a  number  of 
smaller  ones  whose  annual  make  cut  aa  im- 
portant fiarure  in  the  trade. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


173 


REALTY    AND    ROOFS. 

.LAST    YEAR— FIFTY  YEABS. 

INTRODUCTORY 

The  history  of  Chicago  real  estate  epito- 
mizes the  city's  greatness;  is  a  mirror  in 
which  is  seen  her  gradual  growth  to  metro- 
politan pre-eminence.  It  was  the  accident, 
or  rather  heaven's  gift,  of  location,  a  site  more 
commanding  and  imperial  than  the  Roman 
terminus  of  all  the  roads  in  Cassar's  empire, 
th^t  stamped  Chicago's  foundation  as  pure 
gold,  and  it  was  the  uniquely,  characteris- 
tic enterprise  of  Ghicagoans  themselves,  ever 
equal  to  the  occasion,  that  coined  that  gold 
tor  practical  use.  Granted  that  here  is  the 
gateway  of  all  Northwestern  highways,  if  it 
had  not  been  that  Titan  arms  drained  the 
marsh,  raised  the  causeway,  and  drove  the 
piles  to  build  the  gate-posts — those  modern 
pillars  of  Hercules — the  city  to-day  might  be 
merely  another  St.  Louis. 

In  looking  back,  the  semi-centennial  span 
and  the  last  annual  arc  thereof  invite  a  won- 
dering if  cursory  glance,  for  the  arch  is  a 
perfect  rainbow,  splendid  in  itself  and  in  its 
promise  of  what  is  yet  to  be.  A  faint  flush  back 
in  the  30' s,  when  the  great  city  was  born,  the 
color  intensifies  forthwith,  like  a  Norway 
dawn,  and  swiftly  the  deepening  reds  ad- 
vance to  glowing  crimson.  If  now  and  then 
a  sun  spot  of  depression  or  panic  varies  the 
prisn.atio  brightness,  it  is  to  remind  us  that 
Chicago  real  estate  even  is  not  treasure  laid 
up  in  heaven;  but  where  so  remarkably  as 
here  has  been  asserted  an  innate  recuper- 
ative vitality? 

Now,  as  the  gentle  reader  knows,  approved 
histories  are  of  two  sorts,  inductive  and  de- 
ductive, and.  if  he  please,  let  the  former,  or 
the  begin-at-the-end  variety,  have  a  brief 
preference,  long  enough  for  some  idea  of 
last  year's  doings  in  the  Chicago  land  and 
building  market,  and  then  will  come  in  order 
some  resume,  with  anecdotal  accompani- 
ments, of  the  city's  first  half-century  in  these 
regards. 

DURING  1883 — NEW  BUILDINGS. 

And,  for  the  immediate  honoring  of  the 
dead  .year,  let  its  epitaph  write  large 
that  no  year  in  all  Chicago's  history  saw  such 
activity  and  results  in  the  buildinir  line,  that 
inseparable  strand  in  the  cable  of  real  estate. 


The  figure  magnifies  itself  and  the  magnifi- 
cent community  where  such  achievements 
are  possible— 86,000  feet  of  street  and  ave- 
nue 'frontage  built  up,  and  not  less  than 
$22,000,000  transmuted  into  walls  of  brick 
arid  stone,  iron  and  marble.  Not  the  year 
following  the  great  fire,  when  practically  the 
city  had  to  be  rebuilt,  can  show  such  foot- 
ings as  these;  and  the  record  looms  up  the 
bigger,  considering  the  unexampled  length 
of  strikes  last  spring  by  the  architects'  other 
self,  the  bricklayer.  Statistics  like,  this — 
and  the  interesting  details  are  tabulated 
further  on — exhibit  with  a  force  that  noth- 
ing else  can  the  unexampled  development  of 
a  community  wtiose  past,  however  wonder- 
ful, is  only  the  prelude  to  new  surprises.  No 
particular  section  of  the  city  ana  no  par- 
ticular kind  of  building  have  monopolized 
the  activity,  unless  the  construction  of  the 
new  Chamber  of  Commerce,  now  well  alone 
toward  its  completion  by  next  midsummer, 
should  be  made  an  exception.  That  office 
buildings  are  represented  in  the  grand 

PROCESSION  OF  NEW   STUCTUKES 

is  seen  in  such  sky-scrapers  as  the  "Calumet" 
(eleven  stories)  on  LaSalle  street,  the  Com- 
mercial National  Bank  Building  (not  less 
lofty)  on  Dearborn  street,  and  half  a  score 
satellites  around  the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
to  be  equally  with  itself  the  favorites  and 
proteges  of  "the  cloud-compeller,  Jove." 
whose  effigy,  instead  of  Mercury's,  ought  by 
all  rights  to  surmountthe  224-feet-high  tower 
b  y  the  by  to  be  the  highest  pinnacle  in  the 
whole  Northwest)  of  the  bulls  and  bears 
In  business  and  commercial  blocks,  the  com- 
pletion of  the'  Farwell  Building,  which  em- 
bodies more  million  brick  than  any  similar 
headquarters  of  trade  in  America,  New  York 
not  excepted,  sufficiently  typefies  the  year's 
progress,  though  mention  is  also  merited  by 
the  $500,000  huge  warehouse  commenced 
by  Mr.  Sibley  just  over  Clark  street  bridge. 
In  residences,  whether  the  cottage  of  the  la- 
borer, the  substantial  brick  of  the  artisan, 
the  more  pretentious  swell  front  (arenerally 
of  ''marble")  of  a  social  .stratum  more  aspir- 
ing, the  somewhat  superabundant  Hat.  the 
elegant  avenue  facade  of  pressed  brick  and 
dignity,  or  the  millionaire's  marble  mansion 
by  lake  or  boulevard,  the  upbuilding  lias  bei  n 
unprecedented.  Even  Wilbur  F.  Storey's  car- 
rara  mausoleum  has  gone  up  a  few  inches. 
To  particularize  oven  a  few  of  the  splendid 
houses  that  have  been  added  in  such  unex- 
ampled numbers  to  all  the  avenues,  north 
south  and  west,  must  tax  unduly  the  modicum 
of  holiday  leisure  to  peruse  even  THE  [M'E.t 


174 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


OCEAN,  and  withal  would  be  superfluous; 
for,  behold,  are  they  not  fully  recorded  and 
described  not  only  on  Building  Clerk  Edgar's 
"stubs"  of  permits,  but  also  from  week  to 
week  throughout  the  year  on  the  pages  of 
the  aforesaid  favorite  newspaper  and  recog- 
nized authority  on  all  news  of  real  estate  and 
architecture?  In  one  word,  it  may  almost  be 
said,  a  la  Augustus  and  the  old  Chicago  of 
Italy,  that  so  phenomenal  was  the  building 
activity  in  1883  that  it  found  this  city  brick 
and  left  it — pressed  brick. 

BIGGEST   YEAB   OP    AT.T, 

The  following  particulars,  even  if  some- 
what detailed,  will  furnish  enlightenment  to 
the  reader  and  valuable  statistics  to  "the 
coming  historian:" 


Month. 

Jan  nary..  . 
February.. 
March  
April  
May  

~l 
&*• 

GO 

5 
o"2 

|1 

Feet 
i  roiitasre  . 

« 
• 

o 
o 

Sheda. 

55 
105 
272 
282 
352 
394 
382 
422 
314 
2O1 
110 

62 
134 
317 
328 
421 
543 
493 
560 
376 
276 
177 

1.288 
2.466 
5,  90S 
6,202 
9,722 
10,935 
9,699 
11,022 
8,496 
6,424 
4,778 

$225,000 
501.720 
1,483.650 
1,770.720 
2,746,200 
2,577,000 
2,317,060 
3,032,280 
2,444,640 
1,398,360 
1.235,700 

32 

48 
156 
187 
194 
164 
144 
177 
148 
125 
61 

Jane  
July.. 

August  — 
October.  .  . 
November 
December 

Total.... 

3,204 

4.086 

85.588 

21.527,610 

1,602 

County  Hospital  and  City  Hall.... 
ShedBi..  


$475,000.00 
160,000.00 


Grand  total $22, 162,610.00 


Total  receipts  of  department 

Expenses  of  department 


$19,190.55 
14,455.95 


Net  proceeds  over  and  above  re- 
ceipts   $4,734.60 

WEST  DIVISION. 

Frontage 48,629 

Cost. $9,592,540 

SOUTH  DIVISION. 

Frontage 19,686 

Cost ; $7,326,610 

NOKTH  DIVISION. 

Frontage 17,273 

Cost. $5,241,460 

LAND   SALtfS  IN    1883 

To  turn  now  briefly  to  the  real  estate  trans- 
actions of  the  year,  they  naturally  rise  to  the 
level  of  the  grand  advance  just  noted;  for 
lot-selling  and  house-building  in  the  normal 
state  of  communities  go  hand  in  hand.  And 
so  it  is  that  the  record  of  land  titles  trans- 
ferred in  1 883  by  Recorder  Brockway  mounts 
up  to  totals  so  exhilarating  to  the  broker  and 
so  worthy  of  Chicago  as  those  tabulated  fur- 
ther on.  '  The  grand  total  of  the  year's  sales 
of  real  estate  within  seven  miles  of  Chicago 
Court  House  was  $44,164,243.  An  analysis 
of  this  figure  in  its  integral  parts  of  the  indi- 
vidual prices  realized  gives  equal  ground  for 
congratulation  over  the  past  and  reassurance 
and  confluence  for  the  future.  The  ruling 
prices  in  the  Chicago  land  market  throughout 
1883  were  at  once  conservative  and  un  waver- 
ingly  sustained.  What  else  could  have  been 
expected  but  a  strong  and  rising  land 
market  in  a  metropolis  that  was  adding 
4  ()(>(>  to  her  roofs  and  a  corresponding  mul- 
titude of  new  souls  to  her  prosperous  and 
wide-awake  population?  And  what  else  can 
be  expected  now  but  a  continuation  and 
augmentation  of  the  same  buoyant  activity? 
This  is  Chicago,  and  her  fulfillment  has 
never  disappointed  promise.  This  is  Chicago, 
and  yet,  throned  mistress  as  she  is  and 


heiress  of  future  scepters  unnumbered,  she 
to-day  bestows  lands  within  herboiders  at 
one-fourth  the  price  of  similarly  situated 
property  in  Boston,  and  at  scarcely  one- 
tenth  the  New  York  City  rate,  though  that 
settlement  on  Staten  Island  may  not  impos- 
sibly count  but  as  a  subuib  of  this  commer- 
cial and  manufacturing  capital  of  the  Nation 
almost  before  the  century  is  out 

Here  again,  as  in  the  case  of  buildings, 
there  was  no  one  section  of  the  city  cou- 
trollingly  favored  above  others,  the  sales 
ranging  with  almost  equal  activity  from  the 
cheap  suburban  lot,  with  small  payment 
down,  up  to  the  transfer,  only  the  other  day, 
of  the  $500,000  McCord  estate.  It  is 

SUCH  UNTVEBSALITT  OF  INTEREST 

that  is  the  pride  and  hope  of  Chicago  and  hei 
real-estate  market  Equally  to  the  capitalist 
who  wants  to  net  8,  10,  and  12  per  cent  on 
a  down-town  block  (such  figures  are  illus- 
trated in  many  Chicago  investments,  even  at 
current  prices),  and  to  the  honest  son  or  toil 
who  buys  on  time  and  easy  payments  a  lot 
and  a  modest  home  that  he  may  in  future 
escape  the  vile  sponges  that  have  mopped  up 
the  sweat  of  his  brow  in  the  past — to  both 
and  all  Chicago  offers  the  same  chance — an 
opportunity  and  an  investment  that  promises 
(what  in  the  world  more  sure 
than  real  estate  judiciously  placed?) 
the  Midas  gift  of  gold.  It'  anv  one 
class  of  sales  and  buyers  deserved  particu- 
iarization  as  perhaps  more  conspicuous  than 
another  during  the  past  year  it  would  be  the 
brisk  investment  by  just  the  laboring  people 
indicated  in  humble  homes  of  their  own,  sfit- 
uated  very  often  just  over  the  limits,  and  so 
exempt  from  city  taxes  and  the  municipal 
ordinance  against  frame  buildings.  Another 
feature  of  the  market,  though  not  notably 
more  so  than  in  the  preceding  year,  was  the 
dealing  in  acres,  the  rate  ruling  quite  steady, 
with  commendable  advances  along  belt  and 
other  new  railway  lines,  as  also  near  excep- 
tionally solid  and  bustling  manufacturing 
suburb's.  Of  the  speculative  spirit  in 
any  of  its  manifestations  that  in 
the  past  have  occasionally  invited 
criticism  and  cast  a  too  general  reproach, 
there  was  little  or  no  trace  whatever,  and, 
at  least  in  the  offices  of  the  representative 
brokers,  land  prices  ruled  as  steady  and 
standard  as  for  the  staples  of  produce  along 
South  Water  street,  or  the  "wholesale  gro- 
cery row"  of  Michigan  avenue. 

To  single  out  individual  sales — impossible, 
and  yet  more  repetitious,  for,  behold,  has 
not  this  journal  weekly  embalmed  them? 
and  yet  again,  with  something  of  even  added 
fullness  and  official  rank,  are  they  not 
chronicled  in  the  book  of  Recorder  Brock- 
way?  A  summary,  as  officially  prepared  by 
that  courteous  servant  of  the  public,  gives  a 
bird's-eye  view  of  the  year,  with  a  panora- 
mic vista  of  comparison  embracing  its  im- 
mediate predecessors: 

Grand  total  of  sales,  1872 $  78,183.458 

Grand  to  al  of  sales,  1*73 78,427.931 

Grand  total  of  sales.  1S7  4 67,871. <;:!(> 

Grand  total  of  sales,  ]  S7.">  53,149. 851 

Grand  total  of  sales,  1  syii 42,153.596 

Grand  total  of  sales,  1877 38,123.291 

Grand  total  of  sacs,  1878 42,126,821 

Grand  total  of  sales,  1879 38,123,891 

Grand  total  of  sales,  1 880 43,682,922 

Grand  total  of  sales,  issi 54,859,186 

Grand  total  of  sales,  1882 65,735,185 

Grand  tcral  of  sales,  1883 44,164,243 

Grand  total  for  twelve  years.  ...$640,598.012 

INCIDENTS   OF   LONG   AGO. 

And  now,  if  the  patient    reader    wants    to 


CHICAGO'-     FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


175 


foreclose  a  mortgage  on  the  promise — more 
fruitful,  no  doubt,  of  expectation  than  real- 
ized returns — of  some  incidents  and  outline 
history  of  the  Chicago  land  market  during 
fi.ty  ye;irs — the  life  of  the  magic  city — let 
him  read  on  in  leniency.  Not  that  the 
materials,  rich,  rare  and  racy,  need  apology, 
but  how  to  eliminate  them  decently  to  holi- 
day compass — there's  the  quarter  section  of 
swamp. 

And  speaking  of  swamps  (oh!  oh!),  Mr.  S. 
H.  Kerfoot,  one  of  the  Nestors  of  Chicago 
brokers,  to  this  day  has  impressed  .on  retina 
and  memory  the  sight  that  met  him  the  hour 
of  his  arrival  here  thirty-six  years  ago — a 
morass  of  mud  before  the  then  and  now  Sher- 
man House,  and  imbedded,  stalled  therein — 
the  mud,  not  the  ancestral  tavern, 
already  a  quite  imposing  structure 
— a  hack  up  to  the  hubs  and  the 
horses  up  to  their  belly-bands.  Property 
thereabouts  then  ruled  at  $100  a  foot,  and 
Chicago  already  possessed  for  fifteen  years  of 
a  city  charter !  Yes,  bargain  indeed  to-day 
to  get  half  an  inch  for  the  money. 

Another  veteran  agent,  still  in  harness,  is 
Charles  Cleaver,  who  arrived  in  Chicago  just 
fifty  years  ago,  and  within  two  days  had 
cleared  $050  by  real  estate  transactions.  No 
wonder,  with  such  early  example,  that  your 
brokers  are  the  Yanderbilts  of  the  commun- 
ity, as  well  as  the  best  fellows  and  most  per- 
fect gentlemen  in  the  world.  [This  kind  two 
for  a  nickle.] 

Tradition  uncertainly  pictures  a  negro, 
Point  au  Sable,  as  "squatting"  in  1796  on 
the  aboriginal  domain  and  with  his  Indian 
bride  inhabiting  a  wigwam  about  where  the 
north  abutment  of  State  street  bridge  now 
stands;  and  that  next  year,  or  that  matter,  an 
uugallaut  Frenchman  jumped  the  ranch,  with 
nothing  said  as  to  the  bride.  At  any  rate  it 
was  this  property — and  here  history,  if 
somewhat  previously,  opens  her  first  subdi- 
vision— that  figures  in  the 

EARLIEST   AUTHENTICATED   TRANSFER 

of  real  estate  in  Cook  County,  the  historic 
John  Kinzie  being  the  purchaser,  the  date 
not  absolutely  certain,  but  on  th"  eve  of  the 
founding  of  Fort  Dearborn  in  1804,  and  the 
consideration  paid  not  known  either, 
any  more  than  the  exact  property  acquired, 
except  that  the  good,  will  of  the  Indians  was 
considered  as  thrown  in. 

In  1817  for  "a  house  and  farm  near  the 
fort,"  J.  H.  Beaubieri  paid  $1,000  to  an 
army  contractor,  one  Dean,  but  the  day  of 
booms  was  still  ,  far  off.  for  in  1823  Major 
Long1  dried  out  his  wrath  on  the  bogs  suc- 
ceeding-one  another  between  the  fort  and  the 
junction  of  tae  North  and  iontii  BI;J,UC  ies  by 
declaring  he  "would  not  give  sixpence  an 
acre  for  the  whole  d — d  region." 

Tne  year  the  City  was  chartered— just  fifty 
years  ago — William  Bell  sold  to  S.  Blood  for 
$100  a  piece,  two  lots,  80x180  feet  each, 
fronting  north  on  L.ike  street  and  running 
through  the  entire  block  to  Randolph  street, 
w  t.i  sicli'  show  o;i  LaSalle.  opposite  the  tun- 
nel, he  himsjlf  having  boug.,t  the  lots  three 
years  before  at  canal  sale  for  $23  and  $25, 
respectively.  But  the  up-grade  was  starting, 
for  only  eight  months  later  Blood  was  not 
accused  of  taking  olood  money  when 
he  sold  his  pa  r  to  Pearsons  and  Owen  at 
$000  aniece.  To-day  the  owners  of  this 
magnificent  property  would  perhaps  think 
t!ie\-  were  griving  it  away  to  sell  at  $120,- 
ODD 

After  a   time   there   came  an  undue  expan- 


sion common  to  the  whole  country,  and  in 
the  financial  crash  of  1837  Chicago  lots  de- 
clined 25  per  cent  from  the  speculative  value 
at  which  they  had  been  hawked  on  the 
streets  of  New  York  and  other  Eastern  cit.es. 
The  recovery  was  sure,  however,  based  on 
the 

YOUNG   CITY'S   MARVELOUS   GROWTH, 

and  in  1848  the  value  of  real  property 
in  Chicago  on  a  low  estimate  was  $20,000,- 
000,  the  expanding  limits  now  reaching  to 
Fullerton  avenue,  Sedgwick  streoo,  North 
avenue,  Western  avenue,  and  Twenty-sec- 
ond street.  Still  the  great  future  of  the  city 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  really  contem- 
plated, for  prices  ruled  low,  except  along 
Lake  and  Clark  streets.  Thus,  land  at  State 
and  Washington  streets,  where  a  sale  was  re- 
cently made  at  $5,000  a  front  foot,  was  in 
the  market  at  $150,  with  few  buyers,  and 
even  in  the  "flush"  times  of  1856  Colonel 
George  R.  Clarke  gave  a  bonus  to  be  rid  of  his 
agreement  to  Day  $100  per  foot,  all  on  time, 
for  25x195  feet  on  Madison  street,  between 
LaSalle  and  Wells  (now  easily  worth  $2,500 
per  front  foot). 

It  is  not  incumbent  to  more  than  allude  to 
the  general  financial  stringency  of  '57,  or  to 
the  similarly  retarding  influence  of  the  war 
to  the  effects  of  the  great  fire 
and  the  depression  following  '74.  Steadily 
the  intrinsic  value  of  Chicago  real  estate  has 
developed  with  the  influx  of  its  600.000 
people,  and  no  temporary  weight  can  check 
the  inherent  buoyancy!  Indeed,  the  great 
fire,  in  two  respects,  proved  a  benefit;  first, 
in  the  consequent  prohibition  of  wioden 
buildings,  and  again  in  tha  increased  va^-u^s 
resulting  from  the  plan  of  .rebuilding.  The 
rescue,  too,  of  the  title  deeds  from  the  burn- 
ing Court  House  was  so  narrow  an  escape  as 
to  rank  as  the  greater  benefit. 

And  thereby  hangs  a  tale.  Mr.  John  G. 
Shortall  that  night  of  Oct  9,  '71,  grew  des- 
perate as  he  saw  the  flames  draw  on  and  no 
wagon  at  command  for  love  or  money  to  cart 
off  the  precious  manuscripts,  for  "though 
versed  in  all  manner  of  legal  conveyances, 
he  was  not  equal  to  this  emergency  without 
help  from  a  conveyancer  of  a  more  literal  or 
physical  ty DC."  But  he  rose  master  of  the 
situation,  and 

SO  DID   HIS  REVOLVER. 

and,  despite  obstreperousness,  with  this  in- 
strument kept  carefully  trained  on  the  com- 
mander of  an  unknown  craft,  he  coerced  the 
fates  into  saving  the  abstracts. 

On  the  splendidly  sustained  operations  in 
the  Chicago  real  estate  market  in  the  past 
few  years  it  is  not  necessary  to  enlarge,  the 
table  above  given  showing  the  remarkable 
volume.  In  conclus  on  one  or  two  instances 
may  be  cited  of  the  wealth  that  has  come,  or 
might  have  come,  from  modest  investments 
In  1835  John  S.  Wright  invested  $4.000  in 
forty-four  acres  in  the  vicinity  of  what  is 
now  Eighteenth  street,  between  the  lake  and 
State  street;  to-day  the  property,  exc.usive 
of  improvements,  is  worth  over  $2,500,000. 
Airuiii,  a  tract  in  Calumet,  long1  wwii'id  by 
the  late  Walter  L.  Newbeiry,  and  descending 
to  his  heirs  with  the  rest  of  his  estate,  brought 
24.0OO  per  cent  profit — the  cost  priea  having 
been  only  $1.25,  the  government  charge. 
An  advance  even  more  phenomenal  occurred 
in  the  property  of  the  William  B.  Ogden  es- 
tate, ly>ng  west  of  the  city,  the  appreciation 
being  from  the  government's  give-away 
figure  to  $10,000  per  acre. 


176 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


THE  BROKERS. 

DOOR    PLAT. 

OB  BKIEF   PREFACE. 

With  not  a  little  satisfaction  THE  INTEB 
OCEAN  as  the  recognized  organ  and  spokes- 
man of  the  landed  ana  rental  inerests  of 
v.he  city,  marshals  in  dress  parade  the 
solid  corps  of  Chicago'*  chief  real  estate 
men.  The  ranks  are  long  drawn  out — what 
else  would  befit  the  city  and  so  august  a  re- 
viewal  as  this  by  our  tens  of  thousands  of 
holiday  readers?  In  their  own  knapsacks 
and  those  of  their  world-wide  clientage  this 
ariny  carries  more  nuggets  of  gold  than  any 
which  marches  under  Board  of  Trade  nags 
or  the  smoky  pennons  of  manufactories;  and 
the  bayonets  of  integrity,  good  citizenship, 
and  personal  and  social  worth  and  eminence 
gleam  as  brightly  as  the  gold- 
Other  sheep,  too,  we  have,  which  are  not  of 
this  fold,  wide  extended  as  it  is;  and  would 
the  reader,  like  Bopeep,  go  and  hunt 
those  sheep,  they  may  be  found  brows- 
ing on  the  clover  hilltops  of  the  first 
page  or  chewing  the  cud  of  content- 
ment in  the  equally  succulent  pastures  of 
"Che  classified." 

•  But  with  so  magnificent  a  menu  awaiting, 
the  opening  soup  should  be  no  less  abbre- 
viated than  tenuous  ;  so  here  goes  to  the 
next  course,  and  the  next,  and  let  not  the 
reader's  appetite  stop  short  of  the  toothpick, 
meanwhile  considerins  himself  and  herself 
individually  wished  "a  happy  New  Year," 
and — which  amounts  to  about  the  same  thing 
— the  privilege  ot  personal  acquaintance  and 
business  relations  with  the  gentlemen  men- 
tioned, it  being  merely  premised  that  during 
1884,  as  in  the  past,"  tie  best  efforts  of  this 
journal  will  be  directed  to  set  forward  the 
advantage  of  the  Chicago  real  estate  market 
and  men. 

E.  A.  CUMMINGS  &  CO. 

SOUTHEAST   COKNEB  MADISON   AND  LA   SALLE. 

This  firm  ranks  as  one  of  the  older  and 
leading  real  estate  firms  in  Chicago.  The 
magnificent  business  it  has  built  up  is  the  re- 
sult of  the  ability,  energy,  and  integrity  that 
has  been  displayed  in  the  management  of  the 
many  interests  committed  to  them.  From 
an  obscure  rear  office  in  1869  it  has  pushed 
steadily  forward,  until  to-day  it  occupies 
spacious  qu-irters  at  the  southeast  corner  of 
Madison  and  LnSalle  streets,  one  of  the  most 
prominent  locations  in  the  city.  Its  corps  of 
bu-y  clerks,  with  their  pleasant  ways  and 
prompt  attention,  make  it  a  pleasure  to  do 
business  with  the  house. 

The  firm  transact  a  general  real  estate  busi- 
ness in  all  its  branches,  and  wiiatever  they 
have  to  do  they  aim  to  at  least  equal  any 
competitor.  Their  motto  is  "The  best  service 
possible  for  their  clients,"  and  they  aim  to 
retain  their  patrons  by  making  themse  ves 
eo  valuable  to  them  that  there  can  be  no  in- 
due.-ment  for  a  change. 

Th"y  have  charge  of  many  large  estates, 
also  great  properties  belonging  to  corpora- 


tions and  trust  companies,  and  their  busi- 
ness in  all  departments  is  so  perfectly  sys- 
tematized that  from  the  smallest  item  of  re- 
pair up  all  can  be  accounted  for  and  shown 
in  a  moment 

For  the  purpose  of  keeping  property  in 
their  charge  in  conditiou  they  have  a  repair 
shop  which  is  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
John  Hatch,  an  experienced  builder.  All 
material  needed  is  purchased  at  first  hands 
at  the  lowest  possible  price  for  cash,  and 
their  clients  obtain  the  benefit  of  all  dis- 
counts, so  that  all  work  is  done  at  its  actual 
net  cost.  In  this  way  Messrs.  Curnrnings  & 
Co.  are  enabled  to  keep  the  property  in- 
trusted to  their  charge  in  the  best  possible 
order  at  the  smallest  ratio  of  expense. 
In  the  selection  of  tenants  great  care  is  taken 
and  the  renting  history  of  every  applicant 
thoroughly  examined.  If  there  is  any  ques- 
tion the  landlord  is  given  the  benefit  of  the 
doubt  and  the  application  refused.  It  is  to 
this  careful  selection  of  tenants  that  a  large 
measure  of  their  success  is  owing.  They  en- 
deavor to  treat  fairly  and  justly  all  holding 
leases  from  them,  and  they  have  many 
tenants  who  have  held  their  leases  for  years. 
Good  tenants  they  propose  to  take  good  care 
of — poor  tenants  they  do  not  want  at  all. 

Several  years  ago  this  firm  established  a 
cheap  lot  department  to  their  business.  This 
was  done  to  enable  a  large  class  of  worthy 
citizens  of  limited  means  to  procure  for  the 
least  amount  of  money  the  best  possible 
building  lot  They  selected  a  number  of 
available  and  accessible  tracts  of  land  and 
sub-divided  the  same  into  good-sized  lots, 
selling  them  at  low  prices  and  on  easy  pay- 
ments. The  increase  in  this  department  of 
their  business  is  very  encouraging,  as  the 
following  statistics  prove : 
Year.  No.  lots  sold. 

18SO 325 

1881 533 

1882 824 

1883 1,239 

Probably  by  far  the  largest  business  done 
in  this  line  in  the  city. 

They  made  Moreland  quite  a  large  town 
out  of  prairie  land;  Auburn  also,  and  then 
Douglas  Park.  Lawndale.  and  many  inside 
subdivisions  nave  experienced  a  marked 
change  in  a  few  years.  It  requires  eight 
branch  offices,  located  in  different  parts  of 
the  city  and  county,  to  run  this  department 
The  firm  have  in  their  employ  an  army  of 
agents  who  are  constantly  at  work  disposing 
of  lots  in  their  respective  subdivisions,  which 
now  number  thirty-seven. 

The  members  of  the  firm  are  Edmund  A 
Cummings,  Silas  M.  Moore,  and  Robert  C. 
Givms.  all  veterans  in  the  real  estate 
business. 

THE  HOUSE  AND  LOT  MONTHLY, 

a  sprightly  periodical,  is  published  by  them, 
and  is  under  their  control.  This  paper,  be- 
sides conta  ning  muc:i  valuable  real  estate 
information,  contains  their  complete  list  of 
property  for  sale.  It  has  a  wide  circulation 
and  is  itself  becoming  an  institut  on  of  the 
city.  This  sheet  contains  twenty  pages  and 
will  be  mailed  free  to  any  address  during  the 
year  1884.  Parties  desirous  of  buying  real 
estate  will  find  it  to  their  advantage  to 
peruse  The  Howie  and  Lot. 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


177 


KNIGHT    Jfc    MARSHALL,. 

THIRTY    YEAKS  IN  BUSINESS. 

No  other  real  estate  house  in  Chicago  can 
point  to  thirty  years  of  steady  possession  of 
one  and  the  same  office  a?  can  this  well- 
known  firm,  whose  specialty  is  the  renting 
business.  Back  in  1854  they  occupied, 
just  as  at  present,  Room  10,  Lir- 
mon  Block,  now  Reaper  Block,  Wash- 
ing-ton and  Clark  streets,  and  the  old-time 
pre-eminence  of  the  house  has  descended  un- 
diminished  to  its  young  and  enterprising 
representatives  of  to-day — Messrs.  John  B. 
Knight  and  James  M.  Marsiiall — who  have 
still  further  widened  the  scope  of  the  firm's 
operations.  Few  renting,  rent-collecting, 
and  tax-paying  agencies  in  any  city  have 
such  extended  lists  of  property  confided  to 
their  care,  both  by  resid"nts  and  non-resi- 
dents, and  not  one  has  administered  the 
trust  more  to  the  satisfaction  of  patrons.  At 
the  same  time,  each  year  a  large  and  growing 
aggregate  of  real  estate  is  bought  and  sold 
by  the  firm  on  commission,  and  loans  are  ex- 
tensively placed.  All  kinds  of  real  estate 
pauers  are  made  to  order. 

Asked  their  ideas  for  THE  INTEB  OCEAN'S 
New  Year's  prospectus  on  rents,  building 
loans,  and  land  sales,  the  gentlemen  replied 
that  offices  and  stores  promised  to  rent  as 
last  year,  or  in  that  neighborhood,  and  that 
moderate  sized  dwellings,  especially  on  the 
West  Side,  would  likely  rule  somewhat  lower. 
In  some  directions,  in  flats,  for  instance,  the 
demand  for  new  buildings  was  now  fully 
met»  and,  although  the  firm  had  not  a  roof 
unrented,  to  go  a  little  slow  might  be  wis- 
dom. For  loans  there  was  promised  a  stfcady 
demand  at  conservative  rates,  and  the  boom 
in  cottage  building  would  no  doubt  continue. 
As  to  coming  purchases  of  city  and  suburban 
lands,  the  outlook  betokened  a  marked  de- 
mand, both  from  heavy  investors  and  from 
buyers  seeking  homes  of  their  own. 

MEAD  &  COE. 

BEPBESENTATTVE   FTBM. 

For  THE  INTEB  OCEAN  annual  review  and 
prospectus  of  real  estate  the  well-known  firm 
named  above,  officing  at  No.  149  LaSalle 
street,  Major  Block,  and  who  have  been  in 
continuous  business  since  1867  without 
a  change  of  firm  name — a  remarkable 
circumstance — consented  to  be  inter- 
viewed. Their  opinions,  it  need  scarcely  be 
premised,  embody  the  conservative  and  rep- 
resentative tone  of  the  market.  As  to  loans, 
the  gentlemen  report  considerable  capital 
now  in  Chicago  seeking  that  mode  of  invest- 
ment, the  supply  being  more  than  equal  to 
tiie  demand,  with  rates  fairly  well  sustained. 
Heal  estate  secured  loans  continue  prime 
favorites  with  trustees  of  estates,  widows,  old 
people — all  who  are  pretty  conservative. 
They  only  loan  50  cents  on  the  dollar,  and 
receive  as  security  good  improved  property, 
on  which,  in  event  of  foreclosure,  they  can 
realize  unquestionably.  They  loolc  for  long 
and  safe  investments  and  only  moderate 
rates  of  interest.  Money  for  these  louu  loans 
is  abundant,  and  is  largely  furnished  from 
the  accumulations  of  Western  people. 

An  increasingly  popular  substitute  with 
capitalists  for  loaning  money  is  to  invest  it 
in  central  business  property  having  a  steady, 
permanent  income,  and  the  buyer  can  afford 


to  pay  a  fair  profit  to  the  Chicago  man  who 
has  been  enterprising  enough  to  make  the 
improvement.  Thus  a  Philadelphia  estate  now 
seeks  just  such  an  investment  in  Chicago, 
preferring  this  method  to  loaning. 

The  prospect  favors  a  sustained  building 
activity,  the  cost  of  building  having  dropped 
in  the  past  four  months  from  15  to  18  per 
cent-^-a  result  of  the  unexampled  stock  of 
material— with  the  probability  that  labor 
must  to  some  extent  sympathize.  In  pre- 
vious years  Chicago  was  unequal  to  supply- 
ing the  material  wanted  here  during  the 
building  season;  now  her  facilities  for  manu- 
facture and  importation  yield  ample  sup- 
plies, the  quantity  of  brick  now  in  stock 
being  larger  that  ever  before.  At  present 
prices,  persons  can  go  out,  purchase  real  es- 
tate, and,  putting  a  building  thereon,  obtain 
a  better  return  for  their  investment  than  in 
making  loans.  While  old  buildings  may  in 
some  instances  suffer,  new  buildings  will 
command  fair  rents.  There  has  been  a  scarc- 
ity of  stores  during  the  last  three  years  in 
the  spring,  but  the  appearances  now  are 
that  the  supply  of  stores  is  about  equal  to 
the  demand;  while  there  is  no  overbuilding, 
the  supply  is  fair.  Up  to  the  present  time 
dwellings  have  been  well  .occupied  on  the 
North  and  South  Sides  of  the  city,  and  also 
pretty  well  on  the  West  Side,  yet  there  are 
more  signs  there  of  a  full  supply  than  on 
either  of  the  other  sides;  but  in  favorite 
localities  there  and  elsewhere  rents 
have  been  well  sustained,  and  it  is 
inferred  from  the  rentings  made  by  the 
firm  during  the  fall  that  they  will  continue 
to  be  well  sustained.  It  is  safe  to  say.  how- 
ever, that  rents  are  up  to  their  full  height, 
or  high  as  tenants  can  afford  to  give,  the 
power  to  pay  not  being  equal,  certainly,  to 
any  new  tax. 

F.   A.   HENSHAVT. 

BBOKEBAGE   AND   HOUSE-BENTINO. 

Chicago  needs  many  brokers,  but  only  of 
the  high  standing  and  honorable  record  of 
Mr.  Henshaw,  whose  office,  room  4,  National 
Life  Building,  161  LaSalle  street,  is  the  center 
of  a  well-established  and  developing  trade, 
both  in  general  brokerage  and  house-renting. 
Non-residents  find  in  him  a  faithful  and 
prompt  representative,  as  alive  to  their  inter- 
ests as  his  own,  and  in  every  client  is  found 
a  referee  and  stanch  standby.  Mr.  Hen- 
shaw's  attention  is  divided  about 
equally  between  renting  and  sales. 
In  the  new  year  he  expects,  in  the  land  mar- 
ket, a  sustained  and  enhanced  activity  and 
success.  The  future  of  Chicago  real  estate 
enfolds  bargains  and  fortunes  surpassing  her 
past 

BALEU)  &  BRADLEY. 

90  LASAXLE   STREET. 

Founded  in  1859,  this  representative  firm 
pursue  the  even  tenor  of  their  way  in  loans, 
sales,  and  rents,  in  each  branch  of  their  tri- 
partite occupation  equally  enterprising  and 
conservative,  as  becomes  a  house  which  is  at 
once  the  oldest  on  the  street  as  regards  con- 
tinuous service,  and  yet  as  wide-awake  as 
the  newest  Kindly  sparing  a  few  moments, 
Mr.  Lyman  Baird  expressed  for  himself  and 
Mr.  Francis  Bradley  the  expectation,  which 
it  is  reassuring  to  know  is  shared  in  by  the 
other  leading  houses,  that  the  year  1884  will 


17* 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST   HAT.F  (CENTURY 


dispel  any  clouds  over  business,  and  prove 
very  active  m  all  departments  of  traue  and 
commerce,  and,  therefore  in  real  estate,  that 
great  index  of  the  public  pulse.  This  city 
was  Chicago,  and  a  faith  rising  into  confi- 
dence could  be  pinned  to  her  destiny.  With 
the  steady  growth  of  this  metropolis,  the 
value  of  real  estate  and  judicious  building 
investments  must  advance  correspondingly, 
and  the  low  figures  of  to-day  become  sub- 
jects of  surprise  in  the  near  tuLure.  In  short, 
the  real  estate  situation  and  outlook  were  in- 
natelv  inherently  promising,  and  that  fact 
carried  with  it  prosperous  days  for  building 
and  loan  investments.  Indeed,  in  both  these 
latter  branches,  scarcely  less  than  in  the 
firm's  other  prominent  department  of  buying 
and  selling  real  estate  on  commission,  there 
were  already  to  be  seen  evidences— as  in  the 
market  generally  he  thought— of  the  quick- 
ened life  of  the  new  year. 

JOHN  JOHNSTON!  JR. 

HUMBOLDT  HEADQUARTERS. 

If  the  most  pronouneced  feature  in  real  es- 
tate the  past  year  was  the  boom  in  Humboldt 
lots  and  houses,  whereby  the  city  was  ex- 
tended bodily  and  solidly  aoross  the  north- 
western limits,  the  artesian  well  of  this  flood 
was  No.  80  LaSalle  street,  the  office  of  the 
well-known  lawyer  and  landed  proprietor 
named  above.  A  branch  office  on  the  grounds, 
along  with  a  great  new  subdivision,  was 
needed  for  the  overflow,  and  still  the  tide 
rises.  To  one  who  has  not  lately  visited  this 
beautiful  Humboldt  Park  section,  the  out- 
stretching ranks  of  neat  houses  and  happy 
homes  that  are  so  rapidly  appropriating 
Mr.  Johnston's  lands,  must  beget  a  new 
enthusiasm  over  the  greatness  of  Chicago, 
where  suburbs  are  born  in  a  day.  Situated 
nearer  the  Court  House  than  extensive  por- 
tions of  the  city  itself,  and  quickly  and 
cheaply  reached  by  steam  cars  and  horse 
cars,  this  district  of  parkway  and  boulevard 
has  a  natural  basis  for  the  popularity  which 
Mr.  Johnston's  courteous  agents  and  reason- 
able terms  have  confirmed.  Not  far  distant, 
at  Milwaukee  and  California  avenues,  close(to 
the  boulevard,  is  another  of  the  gentleman's 
subdivisions,  and  here  too  the  sale  of  lots 
has  been  very  rapid.  This  whole  region  is 
advancing  steadily  and  remarkably  in  popu- 
lat. on,  and  land  values  must  correspond.  In 
many  other  directions  Mr.  Johnston  is  placing 
on  the  market  property  owned  by  him. 
whether  city  lots  or  acre  tracts,  in  South  Chi- 
cago and  elsewhere,  and  as  negotiations  are 
made  direct  with  first  hands,  it  is 
easily  explained  how  the  sales  of  this  repre- 
sentative house  so  materially  swell  the  total 
of  the  year's  transactions  in  the  market 

J.  C.  MAGIL.I.  &  CO. 

POPUIARITY  AND  PUSH. 

It  is  sometimes  hard  to  put  facts,  lest  their 
adequate  statement  should  sound  to  the 
stranger  like  adulation.  Those,  however, 
who  know  Mr.  J.  C.  Magill  and  Mr.  Silvanus 
Wilder,  No.  90  Washington  street,  and 
their  rank  in  the  real-estate  business  of 
Chicago,  will  allow  tuat  they  are  entitled  to 
ail  we  say.  With  eleven  and  fourteen  years 
of  experience  respectively,  a  thorough  ac- 


quaintance with  localities  and  values  all  over 
tue  city,  with  their  own  capital  and  that  of 
numerous  clients,  never  so  many  as  last  year, 
they  can  assist  would-be  house- builders  as 
well  by  cash  loaned  as  by  advice  as  to  tiie 
best  spot  and  matliod  to  use  it;  with  enthu- 
siasm and  dash  that  at  once  commend  their 
energy  and  their  pride  in  their  business,  the 
firm  beget  a  like  interest  on  the  part  of  others 
in  the  magnificent  opportunities  offered  to 
capital  for  investment  in  Chicago  property. 
Backed,  finally,  by  a  personal  equipment  as 
fortunate  as  their  professional,  the  firm  ever 
add  new  friends  to  the  old. 

They  have  made  a  specialty  of  investments 
for  non-residents,  ior  whom 'they  have  made 
many  profitable  purchases. 

They  have  also  sold  a  large  number  of  val- 
uable "pieces  of  property  in  other  cities  to 
parties  residing  there,  whose  local  real  estate 
agents  had  not  succeeded  in  interesting  them. 

Therefore,  it  is  not  strange  that  the  sales  of 
this  house  the  past  year  reached  such  con- 
spicuous figures,  and  that  their  clients  in- 
clude the  names  of  a  large  number  of  prom- 
inent and  wealthy  investors  in  nearly  all 
parts  of  the  Union,  and  many  in  Canada. 

"Get  as  good  rents  as  responsible  tenants 
will  pay"  is  their  rule. 

All  branches  of  their  business  have  more 
than  doubled  in  the  year  1883.  the  increase 
having  been  brought  about  largely  by  the 
disinterested  efforts  of  their  clients,  to  whom 
the  firm  wish  to  extend  their  sincere  ac- 
knowledgments and  best  wishes  for  the  new 
year.  _ 

PERMANENT  EXHIBIT  AND  EXCHANGE 

OF    BUILDING   MATERIALS   AND    IMPROVEMENTS. 

The  exhibit  will  be  opened  free  to  the  pub- 
lic Feb.  1,  1884,  at  the  northeast  corner  of 
Wabash  avenue  and  Washington  street.  The 
enterprise  is  for  the  purpose  of  placing- 
within  easy  reach  of  the  building  public  the 
great  variety  of  materials  and  the  many  in- 
ventions and  improvements  of  building.  It 
will  give  an  opportunity  for  personal  inspec- 
tion of  all  kinds  of  inventions  and  materials, 
including  the  great  variety  of  building 
stones,  granites  and  marbles,  ornamental 
and  plain  pressed  bricks,  specimens  of  terra 
cotta  work,  fire-pioof  materials  and  con- 
struction, cements,  mortars,  and  concretes, 
the  varied  designs  and  inventions  in  sani- 
tary appliances,  heating  and  ventilating  ap- 
paratus, tiles,  roofing -tiles,  slates,  hardware, 
and  specialties  of  hardware,  plain  and  orna- 
mental iron  specialties,  various  woods, 
veneers,  marquetry  work,  stucco  ornamenta- 
tion, ornamental  glass  and  decorative  work. 
Skilled  attendants  will  be  in  charge  or'  the 
several  departments,  and  every  facility  pro- 
vided for  the  patron  seeking  informacion 
regarding  materials  exhibited.  Communi- 
cation will  be  made  by  telephone  and 
dispatch  boys  with  every  local  house. 
Architects  and  their  clients  are  cordially  in- 
vited to  make  use  of  the  exhibit,  and  every 
endeavor  will  be  made  to  assist  them  wheiv 
possible.  Architects  and  others  from  abroad 
interested  in  building  can  make  this  insti- 
tution t'leir  headquarters  while  remaining  in 
the  city.  Communications  relative  to  ma- 
terials on  exhibit  will  be  attended  to,  and 
everv  endeavor  made  to  fulfill  tlie  wants  of 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


179 


patrons.  The  expenses  of  the  institution  are 
defrayed  by  a  charge  made  to  the  exhibitors 
for  space  as  rental,  so  that  the  public 
may  nave  the  full  benefit  of  the  display 
gratia 

The  management  desires  to  perfect  the 
arrangements  and  conveniences  of  this  insti- 
tution where  possible,  and  patrons  need  not 
hesitate  to  apply  for  any  peculiar  demands 
that  may  occur  to  them. 

HKNBT  LOED  GAT,  Proprietor. 


WM.  D.  KKRFOOT  &  CO. 

CHICAGO  REAL  ESTATE   AGENCY. 

If  architecture  is  "frozen  music,"   the  ac- 
companying illustration,  which  explains  its 


well  informed  would  not  say,  "Wm.  D.  Ker- 
foot  &  Co.  ?" 

JAMES    W1L.MOTT. 

NO.    106   DEABBOKN   STREET. 

One  of  the  younger  brokers,  yet  with  not  a 
little  experience,  having  been  connected 
with,  and  succeeding  in  business,  a  firm  long 
established,  Mr.  Wilmott,  No.  106  Dearborn 
street,  ground  floor,  ranks  with  the  veteran 
loan  agents  in  point  of  popularity  and  pat- 
ronage. Besides  his  own  personal  invest- 
ments, he  represents  other  large  inter- 
ests, and  to  one  and  all  he  devotes  the  same 


OUR  OFFICE  THE  DAT 

JUTER  G-RIAT  FO5B  OF 

O0TCKHHE  3(,  UW, 


own  sharp"  contrast,  will  sing  eloquently  and 
truthfully  of  real  estate  and  loan  brokers 
xanspeuret  sans  reproeh — a  house  established 
twenty-one  years  ago,  a  house  foremost  in 
deals,  a  partnership  of  gentlemen — Messrs. 
William  D.  Kerfoot,  William  A.  Merigold, 
George  Birkhoff,  Jr.,  No.  90  Wash- 
ington street  The  parties,  estates, 
and  corporations  represented — where  are 
they  not  found?  And  wherever  found,  they 
are  clients  still  or  friends.  Asked  to  name 
the  real  estate  house  of  Chicago,  who  that  is 


impartial  care  and  attention,  not  forgetting 
either  the  cause  of  the  borrower,  which, 
after  all,  is  that  of  the  lender.  On  good  se- 
curity he  allows  no  broker  to  underbid  him 
in  favorable  terms.  In  building  loans  espe- 
cially he  has  done  a  brisk  trade,  and  negotia- 
tions already  under  way  for  the  new  year  in- 
dicate a  material  activity  in  this  direction. 
As  to  ruling  rates,  while  the  general  ten- 
dency is  conservative,  as  low  as  6  per  cent 
will  no  doubt  be  a  common  figure  on  ap- 
proved collaterals.  There  is  no  question 
that  Chicago  houses  and  lots  will  always 
rank  as  the  most  gilt-edged  of  securitiea 


180 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


Mr.  Wilmott  refers  to  his  many  patrons  in  the 
E  st  as  well  as  in  Chicago.  His  record  is  his 
best  reference,  he  ne/er  having  lost  a  sum 
intrusted  to  his  care. 

GEORGE   A.   EMERY, 

92   WASHINGTON    STBEET. 

Geo.  A.  Emery  says  the  market  looks  un- 
usually bright  and  prosperous.  Mr.  Emery 
makes  a  specialty  of  property  on  the  avenues 
and  boulevards  south,  and  is  recognized,  as 
the  highest  authority  in  regard  to  values  on 
the  South  Side.  He  says  the  tendency  of 
this  city  is  south,  and  that  the  city  is  grow- 
ing more  rapidly  in  that  direction  than  any 
other.  All  cities  have  a  tendency  in  one 
direction,  which,  when  once  developed,  it  is 
impossible  to  change.  London  has  been 
growing  in  one  direction  for  over  500  years, 
ail  the  large  cities  of  the  world  have  the 
same  tendency.  On  the  principle  that  birds 
of  a  feather  flock  together  the  wealthy  men 
of  Chicago  have  secured  homes  on  the  South 
Side,  and  people  who  are  not  BO  wealthy, 
being  desirous  of  locating  in  the  same  vicin- 
ity, will  pay  higher  rents,  and  for  that  reason 
the  land  is  more  valuable.  The  city  grows 
south  about  one  mile  every  ten  years.  The 
parks,  located  as  they  are  south  of  the  city, 
attract  people  there,  and  the  growth  of  the 
city  crowds  them  in  that  direction.  Each 
year  the  facilities  of  transportation  are  im- 
proving, and  in  a  short  time  a  person  living 
in  the  vicinity  of  the  present  limits  can  ar- 
rive home  as  quickly  as  if  he  now  lived  at 
Twenty-second  street.  The  new  Board  of 
Trade,  located  near  the  depot  of  the  Michigan 
Southern  and  Eock  Island  Railroads,  will, 
waen  finished,  create  a  demand  for  property 
on  the  avenues  and  boulevards  north  of  the 
parks,  and  our  shrewdest  and  wealthiest  men 
are  now  purchasing  in  that  vicinity  in  antici- 
pation of  the  rapid  growth  which 
is  inevitable.  The  Michigan  South- 
ern Railroad  now  runs  several  trains 
down  Clark  street  and  across  the  avenues  and 
boulevards,  on  Fortieth  street,  stopping  at 
each  one  of  the  avenues  and  boulevards,  to 
Drexel  boulevard,  and  the  Board  of  Trade 
men  are  buying  largely  for  homes  along  on 
the  avenues  and  boulevards  in  the  vicinity. 
Several  elegant  houses  are  now  building  by 
Board  of  Trade  men,  and  the  demand  seems 
to  be  increasing.  Indeed,  the  vicinity  will 
become  a  neighborhood  of  Board  of  Trade 
men.  who,  as  a  class,  are  whole-souled,  ge- 
nial spirits,  who  like  to  live  well,  make  their 
monsy  easy,  and  spend  it  in  the  same  gener- 
ous way.  There  is  no  doubt  but  what  the 
locality  will  become  eventually  the  choicest 
residence  part  of  Chicago. 

THOMAS  H.   PATTERSON. 

HIS    DEALS   LAST   TEAK. 

For  THE  INTEB  OCEAN  review  and  pros- 
pectus of  the  real  estate  situation  the  scribe 
called  on  the  gentleman  named  above,  office 
No.  188  Dearborn  street.  as  one 
of  the  most  conservative  repre- 
sentatives of  the  trade,  and  al- 
ways well  posted  on  the  market.  Mr.  Pat- 
terson's deals  the  past  year,  though  his  con- 
spicuous modesty  fore  bore  to  develop  this 
point,  helped  most  materially  to  make  up 
the  splendid  volume  of  the  year's  businesa 
Among  these  transactions  were  a  number  of 
large  acre  deals  and  others  in  boulevard 


property,  besides  closing  out  during 
the  year  three  suburban  subdivisions 
inside  the  city  in  the  West  Div  sion, 
the  gentleman  handling  both  his  own 
property  and  the  interests  intrusted  to 
him  by  other  capitalists,  both  in  this  city  aud 
the  East.  For  the  coming  year  the  pro?pec.s 
indicated  a  good  business,  both  in  city  real 
estate  proper  and  in  the  outlying  manufact- 
uring districts.  Too  much  'faith  could  not 
be  placed  in  the  grand  destiny  of  this  city 
and,  therefore,  in  its  land,  the  basis  of  all 
the  successes  to  come.  At  rates  much  higher 
than  those  now  ruling  Chicago  terra  firma 
was  the  cheapest  of  investments. 

BOGUE  AND  HOYT. 

170  DEAEBOEN    STBEET. 

The  gentlemen  of  this  representative  firm, 
Messrs.  Geo.  M.  Bogue,  Henry  W.  Hoyt  and 
Hamilton  B.  Bogue,  have  ]ong  been  es- 
tablished in  the  real  estate  business  in 
Chicago,  and  speak  hopefully  of  the  pros- 
pects of  a  promising  business  for  the  year 
1884,  a  prophecy  evidently  founded  in  good 
measure  on  their  extensive  operations  in  the 
year  just  closed.  They  do  a  general  real 
estate  business,  buying  and  selling  real 
estate  on  commission,  giving1  special  atten- 
tion to  the  care  and  management  of  property, 
paying  taxes,  collecting  rents  and  also  giving 
special  attention  to  the  interests  of  non- 
residents, by  whom  their  services  were  more 
widely  sought  the  past  year  than  ever 
Their  line  of  property,  embraced  in  the 
South  Division  and  conveniently  located  ro 
the  steam  cars  and  the  Illinois  Central 
Railroad,  within  and  about  the  boulevards 
and  parks  of  the  South  Park  system,  presents 
great  attractions  to  people  looking  for  the 
finest  and  most  desirable  location  for 
a  residence.  Few  people  seem  to 
have  as  yet  appreciated  the  great  ad- 
vantage of  this  South  Side  property, 
in  that  steam  communication  brings  the 
property  very  near  to  the  heart  of  the  busi- 
ness district.  In  addition  to  that,  Michigan 
avenue  boulevard,  which  affords  the  best 
carriage  way  in  the  world  right  down  to 
Jackson  street,  must  make  this  entire  South 
Side  property  the  most  desirable  and  the 
most  sought  for  of  any  property  in  or  about 
the  city. 

Their  South  Side  list  of  property  embraces 
property  both  on  the  Grand  and  Drexel 
boulevards,  together  with  finely  located 
tracts  in  the  choice  Kenwood  section.  Many 
very  costly  improve  ments  have  been  put  up 
in  this  locality  during  the  past  season,  and 
the  indications  are  that  the  improvements 
during  the  next  year  will  still  further  en- 
hance the  beauty  and  attractiveness  of  this 
region. 

They  have  for  sale  lots  in  Mr.  O.  R.  Keith 's 
subdivision  at  Woodlawn,  embracing  the 
property  between  the  right  of  way  of  the 
Illinois  "Central  Railroad  on  the  east  and 
Woodlawn  on  the  west,  on  either  side  of 
Sixty-third  street.  They  have  dur.ng  the 
past  year  sold  a  large  number  of  lots,  on 
which  some  fifteen  or  twenty  very  cosy 
pleasant  homes  have  been  built  and  occu- 
pied by  the  owners,  who  are  in  most  cases  con- 
nected with  the  leading  jobbing  houses  of  the 
city.  The  Illinois  Central  has  just  completed 
a  new  brick  depot  at  Sixty-third  street, 
which  is  probably  without  exception  the 
finest  one  along  its  line.  The  community  ia 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


181 


well  supplied  with  school  privileges.  The 
Presbyterian  denomination  have  secured  a 
lot  at  the  corner  of  Sheridan  avenue  and 
Sixty-fourth  street  on  which  a  church  build- 
in?  is  immediately  to  be  erected,  they  hav- 
ing already  obtained  a  subscription  of  about 
$2,000  for  that  purpose.  The  accessibility 
of  this  property.the  railroad  communication, 
and  the  beautiful  South  Park,  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  price  at  which  lots  can  be 
sold — $17  to  $3o  a  foot,  according  to  loca- 
tion— make  it  naturally  a  favorite  and  popu- 
lar investment. 

Among  the  other  desirable  property  this  firm 
offers  they  call  special  attention  to  the  Illinois 
Central  subdivision  at  Hyde  Park,  located  on 
the  east  side  of  the  tract  near  the  lake,  be- 
tween Hyde  Park  and  South  Park  Stations. 
Sewerage  and  water  have  this  season  been 
provided  for  this  property,  and  it  is  offered 
at  very  low  prices. 

H.  C.  MOREY  &  CO. 

85   WASHINGTON   STREET. 

'This  well-known  firm,  No.  85  Washington 
street,  continues,  as  for  years  past,  to  do  a 
general  real -estate  business,  and  to  pay  large 
attention  to  the  care  and  management  of 
property  for  non-residents  and  others. 
They  have  charge  of  the  Union  Mutual  Life 
Insurance  Company's  varied  line  of  property. 
Few  brokers  do  as  large  a  business;  none 
wear  their  honors  with  more  modesty.  The 
senior  member  of  the  firm  is  President  of 
the  R.  E.  and  R.  A.  Association,  and  Mr.  Ed- 
gar M.  Snow  the  junior  member.  The  rec- 
ord of  the  house  is  the  best  explanation  of 
the  past  and  guarantee  of  the  future. 

JS.  A.  WARFIELD. 

99   WASHINGTON   STBEET. 

Offlcing  at  No.  99  Washington  street, 
this  broker  and  genial  gentleman  does  a  real 
estate  business  without  ostentation,  but  al- 
w  iys  on  the  riffht  side  of  the  ledger  in  satis- 
faction for  his  patrons,  whose  number  has 
greatly  increased  the  past  year.  Mr.  War- 
field's  deals  included  some  of  the  largest  that 
went  to  record,  particularly  in  the  line  of 
South  Side  property,  while  his  princi- 
pals and  patrons  are  among  the  solid- 
est  men  of  the  city  and  country.  In  cheap 
lots  he  did  a  thriving  business,  also,  a  depart- 
ment of  the  trade  that  promises  even  better 
results  this  new  year.  Consenting  to  don 
the  prophetic  robes,  he  foresaw  for  1884  a 
sustained  and  augmented  interest  in  the 
really  few  gilt-edged  bargains  now  remain- 
ing in  real  estate"  property,  and  the  same 
would  be  true,  he  thought,  of  the  best  located 
acres  for  manufacturing  purposes. 

SEARL,  &  ZANDER. 

ESTABLISHED   THIRTY   YEAB8. 

This  well  known  real  estate  agency  has 
been  established  on  South  Clinton  street 
since  1855  and  almost  continuously  at  their 
present  site.  No.  69,  just  north  of  Madison 
street.  This  length  of  honorable  dealing  is 
equaled  by  no  West  Side  house,  and  by  but 
few  in  the  city.  The  firm,  consisting  of 
George  A,  Searl  and  E.  W.  Zander,  makes  a 
spec  alty  of  its  renting  department,  although 
transacting  a  general  real  estate  business, 
and  has  on  its  boards  a  large  list  of  stores 


and  offices  in  all  parts  of  the  city.  They  re- 
present Eastern  and  European  investors,  two 
recent  deals  having  been  for  London  and 
Paris  residents.  The  name  of  the  firm 
is  synonymous  with  careful  at- 
tention to  property  confided  to  them  and 
courteous  treatment  of  customers.  As  to 
the  prospect  of  rents  the  coming  season, 
Messrs.  Searl  &  Zander  consider  the  outlook 
a  conservative  one,  with  the  probability  that 
flats  may  rule  a  1'ttle  dull.  The  marvelous 
and  steady  growth  of  the  city,  however,  es- 
tablishes the  safety  and  profitableness  of 
building  investments. 

HENRY  C.  JACOBS, 

BOOM  28,    99  WASHINGTON   STKKET. 

Making  a  specialty  of  Englewood  and 
South  Chicago  property,  this  experienced 
operator  deals  in  lots  and  also  in  acre  tracts. 
He  invites  the  special  attention  of  non-res- 
dents  who  desire  to  invest  in  a  small  way,  in 
single  lots  or  more,  he  haying  inside  ad- 
vantages on  price  and  exceptional  opportuni- 
ties for  securing  returns,  as  his  many  patrons 
will  testify.  Having  subdivided  ten  acres  in 
Englewood,  he  proposes  to  forward  the  in- 
terest of  his  increasing  number  of  clients 
and  correspondents  by  a  somewhat  novel  but 
very  advantageous  way  of  disposing  of  the 
same  to  the  best  account. 

MANN    &    CONQDON. 

POPULAB   AND    ENTERPRISING. 

Ex-Sheriff  O.  L.  Mann  captured  when  in 
office  too  many  prisoners  and  golden  opinions 
to  let  success  escape  him  on  active  return  to 
his  old  love,  the  handling  of  Chicage  realty, 
especially  as  his  enterpiising  young  partner 
now  is  the  same  efficient  co-operator  as  in 
the  old  days — Mr.  E.  A.  Congdon.  Indeed, 
the  firm  has  had  a  continuous  life  since  its 
first  organization,  if  a  partnership  may  be 
conceived  of  as  at  times  playing  substantially 
a  lone  hand;  but  General  Mann  is  latterly 
once  more  wholly  identified  with  the  trade, 
as  his  many  clients  are  pleased  to  know.  Be- 
sides a  wide  activity  in  city  property,  the 
firm  has  extensive  stakes  in  Dakota,  where 
their  operations  are  as  promising  as  promi- 
nent. In  loans,  sometimes  on  farm  securi- 
ties, as  also  in  rents,  a  good  business  has 
been  done,  and  the  New  Year  must  still  fur- 
ther pull  the  latch-string  of  these  deservedly 
popular  dealers.  No.  95  Washington  street. 

S.  E.  GROSS  &  CO., 

CORNEB  MADISON  AND  CLARK  STREETS. 

This  real  estate  house  occupy  the  most  con- 
spicuous office  in  Chicago  or  the  Northwest, 
the  entire  first  floor  of  the  bull  ding  northwest 
corner  Madison  and  Clark  streets,  those  two 
highways  of  the  city's  commerce.  Their  loca- 
tion, made  the  more  a  landmark  and  a  feat- 
ure of  Chicago  by  marble-white  exterior 
walls  emblazoned  with  uniquely  beautiful 
ornamental  signs  in  color  and  gold  of  the 
substantial,  comfortable  homes  that  the  firm 
sells  at  such  reasonable  terms  and  in  such 
vast  numbers,  is  but  a  fitting  index  and  title 
deed  to  the  pre-eminent  position  and  success 
of  the  house.  S.  E.  Gross  &  Co.,  while  not 
neglecting  any  branch  of  the  real  estate  busi 


182 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


ness,  have  achieved  a  fame,  wide  as  the 
city's,  for  the  wholesale  supply  of  houses 
and  lots  to  the  multitude.  The  name  of  S.  E. 
Gross  appears  oftener  on  the  records  of  Cook 
County  in  transfers  of  real  estate  than  any 
other  three  men  in  Chicago.  Great  and 
growing  as  is  the  popularity  of  the  house,  it 
is  yet  easy  of  explanation,  for  not  only  are 
the  attaches  of  the  office  gentlemanly  and 
courteous,  only  less  so  than  the  chief  him- 
self, but  the  variety  in  location  and 
style  of  the  homes  offered  is  only  equaled  by 
the  wholesale  rates  and  easy  terms  ex- 
tended, if  a  home  is  your  ambition,  whether 
in  city  or  suburb,  call  on  S.  E.  Gross  &  Co., 
Madison  and  Clark  streets. 

COUNTY  ABSTRACTS. 

STEADILY  APPBECIATING  IN  FAVOB. 

The  remarkable  growth  in  public  favor  of 
the  Cook  County  Abstract  Department  is  set 
forth  most  strikingly  by  the  logic  of  figures. 
Of  course  at  the  start  such    an   enterprise,  a 
new    thing,  would   naturally  not    secure    as 
many  patrons  as  an  old  established  business, 
and  so  for  the   first  fifteen  months  after  the 
founding-  of  the  department  in  August,  1875, 
the    receipts  were  $4,500 — not  a  bad  begin- 
ning but  still  the  day  of  small  things.    Look 
on  that  picture  and  then  on  this :  During  the 
past  six    months    the    department's  receipts 
are  shown  by  Recorder  Brockway's  report  of  * 
Nov.  30,  1883,  to  have   been  $17,312.50— a 
proportion  not  less  than    ten    times  as  great 
Despite  ail  opposition,    the  County   Abstract 
Department  has  steadily  advanced  in  recog- 
nition   and    business,   and   its    patrons,  as  a 
glance  below  will  demonstrate,  embrace  the 
most  conservative  of  representative  brokers 
and  citizens.  This  fact  is  a  sufficient  diploma 
of   absolute  reliability  and  authority,  while 
the  reasonable  charge  for  county  abstracts  is 
by  no  means  to  their  disfavor;  indeed,  in  this 
respect  the  department  has  held  the  balance 
of  power  against  what  had  threatened  to  be- 
come, since  the  general  destruction  of  titles  in 
the  great  fire,  an  insupportable  tyranny  and  a 
tax  not  to  be  borne.      This  beneficial  service 
deserves  recognition  and  emphasis.    The  per- 
petuation of  the    County  Abstract  Office  is  a 
constant  assurance  to  the  public  that  they 
will  be  enabled  at  all  times  to  obtain  reliable 
abstracts  at  reasonable  rates.  It  is  a  sentinel, 
standing  over  the  private  firms,    compelling 
them    to     observe    reasonable    and   proper 
charges  in    their   dealings    with  the  public. 
To-dav  the  County  Abstract  Office  is  furnish- 
ing abstracts  33  per  cent  less    than    for  the 
same    sort    of    work    furnished  by    private 
firms.      In  view  of  such  a  fact,  well  may  a 
department  of  the  public  service  that  saves 
to  the  citizen  such  large  expense  continue  to 
receive  the  enlightened  support  of  the  Hon- 
orable Board  of  County  Commis -loners.      As 
the    department's    earnings    accrue    to    the 
public  treasury,  and  by  so  much  lessen  the 
burdens  of    taxation,   it  is    evidently  to  the 
common    welfare    that  the    popularity  and 
business  of  the  office  should  grow  yet  more 
rapidly.      That    so     reasonable    a    support, 
prompted  by  self-interest  as  well  as  inherent 
merit,   will  be  more  and  more  general!}   ac- 
corded in  the   new  year  is  the  surer  because 
each    passing  month  adds  yet  more  to  the 
completeness    and   perfection    of     the     de- 
partment's unsurpassed  records  and  facilities. 
On  much  of  the  success  of    the    department 


the  present  able  and  polite  Recorder  of  Deeds 
of  Cook  County  is  personally  to  be  congratu- 
lated, for  it  has  been  a  special  protege  of  his 
care  and  thought,  while  the  obliging  staff  of 
employes  have  efficiently  re-enforced  Major 
Brockway  in  popularizing  the  institution. 

In  conclusion  let  a  very  fragmentary  roll 
call  be  given  of  the  multitude  of  our  most 
solid  citizens,  who  have  been  quite  content 
to  patronize  the  unjustly  maligned  County 
Abstract  Office:  Elliott  Anthony,  A.  J.  Averell 
Wm.  Aldrich,  T.  S.  Albright,'  John  I.  Ben- 
net,  B.  I.  L.  &  B.  Co.,  I.  K.  Boyesen,  Asa  W. 
Buell,  Dent  &  Black,  Small  &  Moore,  William 
Elliott  Furness,  William  C.  Seipp,  Barthoio- 
inas  &  Leicht.  H.  J.  Christoph.  Commercial 
National  Bank,  Clark  &  Silva,  City  National 
Bank,  Crane  Bros.,  Chicago  and  Western  In- 
diana R.  R. ,  Cooper,  Garnett  &  Packard, 
Nathan  Corwith,  Judge  Doolittle,  H.  C, 
Durand,  Lyman  &  Jackson,  J.  H.  Dunham, 
Judge  Loyell,  of  Elgin;  L  C.  Payne  Freer. 
Home  National  Bank.  Field  &  Leiter,  Felsen- 
thal  &  Kosminski,  J.  H.  Follansbee,  J.  &  J.  M. 
Gamble.  C.  J.  Hambleton,  Vim  H\  Higgins, 
Alvin  Hurlbut,  E.  S.  Hubbard,  Harrison  & 
Weeks,  Hyde  Park  Villaare;  Holmes,  Rich  & 
Noble,  Hutchinson  &  Lill,  K'rk  Hawes,  Judge 
Farwell,  Sheriff  Hanchett,  Haines.  English 
&  Dunne,  Heath  &  Milligan,  Ernst  &  Smith, 
International  Bank,  Illinois  Trust  and  Sav- 
ings Bank,  R.  E.  Jenkins,  John  Johnston, 
Jr. .  Juessen  &  Anderson,  Jno.  H.  Kedzie.  C. 
C.  Kohlsaat,  Wm.  H.  King,  Keeley  Brewing 
Company,  Knauer  Brothers,  General  Leake, 
Adolph  Loeb  &  Brother,  B.  Loewenthal,  H. 
B.  Lewis,  Englewood;  H.  C.  Morey,  Judge  Ad- 
kinson,  John  &  Walter  Mattocks.  Mead  &  Coe, 
B.F.Crilley,O.  L.  Mann,General  John  A.Logan, 
B.  D.  Magruder,  Mechanics  and  Traders' 
Loan  and  Building  Association.  E.  G.  Mason, 
Judge  Thomas  Moran,  J.  N.  Barker,  Moses  <fc 
Newman,  S.  M.  Nickerson,  W.  C.  Niehoff,  X. 
L.  Otis,  Offield  &  Towle,  H.  C.  Senne,  Geo. 
Witbeck,  Francis  B.  Peabody,  Peterson  &. 
Bay,  Redmond  Prindville.  B.  £.  Pease,  Pierce 
&  Ware.  Frank  Parmalee.  M.  A.  Farwell, 
Quigg  &  Tuthill,  Sleeper  &  Whiton,  Snydacker 
&  Co. ,  Theo.  Schintz,  Taylor  &  Strong,  T.  J. 
Sudders,  Jno.  Saeriffs,  Smith  &  Burgett,  M. 
Schweisthal,  Arnold  Tripp,  F.  A.  Bragg,  Tag- 
gert  &  Cutter.  H.  H.  Thomas,  W.  H.  Wood, 
Judge  Williamson,  Wilson  &  Perry. Wasmans- 
dorff  &  Heineman,Windes&  Sullivan. Elbridge 
G.  Keith,  Potter  Palmer. 

S.  H.  KEKFOOT    &  CO. 

PIONEEKS. 

These  gentlemen,  especially  the  senior 
member,  have  too  long  baen  identifisd  wit'a 
the  best  life  of  the  market  to  justify  personal 
or  professional  encomiums. 

Mr.  S.  H.  Kerfoot,  Sr.,  the  head  of  this 
pioneer  house,  has  resided  in  Chicago  thirty- 
six  years,  and  from  the  start  has  been  fore- 
most in  advancing  her  landed  interests,  and 
by  natural  inheritance  hi*  son,  Mr.  S.  H. 
Kerfoot,  Jr. ,  has  succeeded  to  much  of  the 
same  devotion  and  eminence.  Their  inti- 
mate knowledge  of  land  values  in  and  about 
Chicago,  the  result  of  close  and  prolonged 
observation,  has  made  their  professional 
opinion  and  offices  greatly  in  demand  from 
other  capitalists  proposing  heavy  invest- 
ments, and  this  is  a  province  they  have  occu- 
pied peculiarly  alone  among  Chicago  real-es- 
tate housea  That  the  requisition  upon  their 
services  in  this  direction  constantly  increases 
is  a  fact  not  more  complimentary  to  S.  H. 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUEY. 


183 


Kerfoot  <t  Co.  than  to  the  steadily  developed 
importance  and  popularity  of  Chicago 
as  a  land  marls  et.  The  speculative 
Bpirit  has  largely  retreated,  and 
there  is  positive  assurance  of  handsome  rent- 
als and  other  realization  on  capital  invested. 
Considering  her  metropolitical  dignity  and 
sure  destiny,  Chicago  is  the  cheapest  land 
market  in  America,  us  S.  H.  Kerfoot  &  Co.  are 
her  most  representative  real-estate  house. 

CHICAGO  ANDERSON  PRESSED  BRICK 

IN   GBOWING  DEMAND. 

To  the  resident  of  Chicago  as  well  as  the 
observant  visitor  who  has  occasionally  passed 
within  her  gates  during  the  years  since  the 
fire,  there  is  no  more  striking  exemplification 
of  the  readiness  of  the  people  to  recognize 
and  accept  that  which  is  good  among  them, 
than  has  been  displayed  by  what  has  assumed 
the  form  of  an  absolute  revolution  in  the 
pressed  brick  business.  A  few  years  after  the 
rebuilding  of  thf  city  was  begun,  more  than 


bearing  that  name.  Since  the  establishment 
of  the  works,  which  was  done  in  rather  a 
modest  way,  the  company's  rapidly  increas- 
ing business  has  necessitated  tne  steady  en- 
largement of  their  capacity,  until  to-day 
they  have,  at  the  corner'of  Asylum  place  and 
Elston  avenue,  a  plant,  the  largest  and  most 
complete  in  the  world.  The  superior  quality 
of  both  the  plain  and  ornamental  brick 
manufactured  by  the  company,  has  given  it 
practically  a  clear  field  in  both  Chicago  and 
the  West,  and  as  a  result  during  the  past 
year  but  two  of  the  prominent  structures 
erected  in  Chicago's  center  were  given  outer 
walls  of  stone,  and  with  but  one  or  two  ex- 
ceptions the  Chicago  Anderson  pressed  brick 
was  used,  and  the  same  was  true  of  the  resi- 
dence districts.  It  is  now  about  to  introduce 
an  ornamental  pressed  brick  that  will  be  in 
every  way  superior,  and  at  least  50  per  cent 
cheaper  than  terra  cotta,  that  for  outride 
decoration  of  bu'ldings  will  undoubtedly 
spring  into  immediate  popularity.  Those 
desiring  to  learn  further  particulars  of  this 
remarkable  production,  of  which  Chicago  is 
so  justly  pround,  will  receive  courteous  con- 
ci  deration  by  application  either  in  person  or 


ordinary  attention  was  attracted  to  pressed 
brick  as  a  material  for  outride  walls  of  build- 
ings; but  the  fact  that  it  was  necessary  to  go 
to  the  Eastforsuch  brick  very  much  retarded 
their  advance  into  popular  favor,  and,  as  will 
be  observed,  the  large  majority  of  the  first 
buildings  erected  have  outside  walls 
of  stone.  The  disintegrating  qualities 
of  nearly  every  kind  of  stone  produced 
for  building  purposes,  soon  demonstrated 
the  necessity  of  the  introduction  of  a  more 
durable,  and,  at  the  same  time,  cheaper  ma- 
terial. How  many  busy  brains  wasted  time, 
energy,  and  midnight  oil  to  discover  the  de- 
sired substitute,  will  never  be  known.  But 
that  one  of  them  finally  brought  forth  the 
valued  secret  is  amply  evidenced  by  stately 
and  ornate  piles  of  the  products  of  his 
genius  wnich  the  eye  encounters  at  every 
turn,  in  both  the  business  and  residence 
districts  of  the  city.  The  gentleman  was  Mr. 
J.  C.  Anderson,  and  the  product  referred  to 
is  what  is  so  widely  and  most  favorably 
known  as  the  Chicago  Anderson  pressed 
brick,  wuicn  is  manufactured  by  a  company 


by  letter,  at  the  down-town  office  of  the  Chi- 
ago  Anderson  Pressed  Brick  Company,  No. 
157  LaSalle  street,  Chicago. 

B.  F.  JACOBS, 

99   WASHINGTON   STBEET. 

Our  long  established  and  representative  real 
estate  dealers  have  in  Mr.  B.  F.  Jacobs,  No. 
99  Washington  street,  a  prominent  exponent, 
one  who  has  been  identified  the  past  year 
with  some  of  the  chief  transactions  in  the 
market 

Of  his  many  interests  that  might  be  named, 
the  University  Subdivision  has  been  notably 
developed,  this  boulevard  tract  lying  be- 
tween Ashland  and  Western  avenues,  and 
Forty-seventh  and  Fifty- first  streets.  In 
that'vicinity  durin?  the  last  two  years  three 
or  four  hundred  buildings  have  been  erected, 
and  there  are  some  manufacturing  interests 
looking  down  that  way  because  the  Forty- 
ninth  street  line  of  the  Grand  Trunk  Road 
makes  the  section  very  accessible  to  the  city. 
Lake  water  is  supplied.  Lots  there  are  in- 
creasing in  value  and  are  selling  for  from 


184 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


$200  to  $400  apiece.  Churches  and  schools 
are  established,  and  people  are  buying  for 
occupation. 

Just  west  of  Hammond  a  tract  has  come 
into  prominence,  as,  in  addition  to 
the  occupation  of  the  neighborhood  for 
manufacturing  purposes,  a  railroad  is  to  run 
through  the  property,  and  eventually  it  is 
going  to  be  built  up  to  South  Chicago.  At 
this  point  Mr.  Jabobs  represents  some  large 
interests,  and,  in  connection  with  other  par- 
tics  owning  in  the  vicinity,  it  is  proposed  to 
put  that  property  on  the  market  in  a  manner 
very  attractive  to  manufacturers  and  also  for 
occupation  and  residence. 

Mr.  Jacobs  has,  also,  a  very  fine  subdivision 
near  Pullman,  along  State  street,  between 
One  Hundred  and  Ninth  and  One  Hundred 
and  Tenth  streets,  and  has  made  plans  fa- 
voring a  rapid  development  and  settlement. 
A  new  depot  of  the  Western  Indiana  Road  is 
to  be  established  there  at  One  Hundred  and 
Eleventh  street. 

Early  in  the  season  this  gentleman  nego- 
tiated what  was  recognized  as  the  leading 
real  estate  deal  of  the  year  in  outsidepiop- 
erty,  the  location  being  the  town  of  Worth, 
section  2.  Probably  important  developments 
will  be  made  there  in  the  near  future. 

GRIFFIN  Jfc  DWI«HT. 

WEST  SIDE    HEADQUABTEBS. 

This  well-known  firm,  consisting  of  Messrs. 
James  F.  Griffin  and  Walter  T.  D  wight,  does  the 
most  extensive  business  of  any  firm  located 
west  of  the  river,  and  their  spacious  and  con- 
venient offices,  northeast  corner  of  Washing- 
ton boulevard  and  Halsted  street,  are  the 
recognized  West  Side  headquarters  for  sales 
and  rents,  although  the  firm  also  deal  exten- 
sively in  the  other  two  divisions  of  the  city. 
Certainly  their  renting  list  of  West  Side 
property  is  not  surpassed  If  equaled  by  any 
other  agency,  and  it  represents  equally  the 
finest  class  of  houses,  the  medium,  and  the 
lower  priced.  Estates  are  managed  by  the 
firm  economically  and  to  the  satisfaction  of 
customers.  Regarding  rents  next  spring, 
they  thought  it  too  early  to  speak ;  at  pres- 
ent the  tone  was  good,  scarcely  one  of  their 
regular  patrons  lacking  a  tenant 

LAYTON,  THAYER  &  CO. 

REAL  ESTATE   AUCTIONS  A  SPECIALTY. 

A  review  of  the  Chicago  land  market  in 
18&3  would  be  incomplete  that  did  not 
record  the  growing  tendency  to  popularize 
land  auctions,  and  so  put  this  city  in  line 
with  New  York,  Philadelphia,  New  Orleans, 
and  San  Francisco,  where,  as  in  all  the  great 
centers,  the  real  estate  auction  is  a  recog- 
nized institution  and  benefit-  not  the  occa- 
sional exception.  That  Chicago  is  develop- 
ing upward  to  the  right  appreciation  of  auc- 
tion jand  sales  is  shown  by  their  greater  fre- 
quency and  patronage  the  past  year,  and  no- 
tably so  by  the  movement,  somewhat  pre- 
liminary as  yet,  but  earnestly  advocated,  by 
which  the  Chicago  Iteal  Estate  and  Renting 
Agents'  Association  is  now  working  upward 
toward  this  level.  Indeed,'  a  'noon  call" — 
which  is  more  than  half  way  to  the  unre- 
served auction  sale — will  not  unlikely  be  es- 
tablished by  that  important  organization  at 
its  next  meeting. 

In    popularizing  the  confessed  advantages 


of  land  auctions  as  determining  readily  tne 
selling  value  and  in  general  stimulation  of 
real  estate  transactions,  not  the  least  potent 
force  has  been  the  honorable  record  and  ex- 

Eerienced  methods  of  Lay  ton,  Thayer  &  Co. — 
.  C.  Thayer  and  R.  P.  Lay  ton — the  long-es- 
tablished land  auctioneers,  182  Dearborn 
street,  Howland  Block.  To  their  talent  and 
energy  is  due  not  a  little  the  growing  favor 
of  the  system,  which  finds  in  them  its  best 
Northwestern  exemplification,  and  to  them 
personally,  as  to  tne  best  real  estate  interests 
of  the  city,  congratulation  is  due  that  here- 
after land  auctions  promise  in  this  city  to  be 
accorded  their  proper  place  of  usefulness.  In 
addition  to  their  specialty  of  real  estate 
auction  sales,  Layton,  Thayer  <fe  Co.  pay  much 
attention  to  the  selling  of  property  at  private 
sale  as  well 

WINKELMAN  &   SIMONS. 

HUMBOLDT  PARK  LOTS. 

This  firm,  consisting  of  Frederick  A.  Wint- 
elman  and  Charlie  B.  Simons,  two  most 
pleasant  gentlemen  to  deal  with,  office  at  No. 
166  East  Randolph  street,  and  operate  very 
extensively  in  Humboldt  Park  lots,  where 
such  a  boom  exists.  Themselves  the  owners, 
they  remit  to  customers  the  commissions. 
Their  present  subdivision,  close  beside  the 
park,  is  a  resubdivision  of  an  original  subdi- 
vision by  Mr.  E.  Simons,  father  of  the  junior 
member  of  the  firm,  and  for  forty  years  a 
resident  and  landowner  in  Chicago'  The 
close  proximity  of  these  choice  lots  to  the 
city  and  to  great  manufactories  insures  a 
continued  demand  for  them.  They  range  in 
price,  with  reasonable  terms,  from  $250  to 
$450,  according  to  location. 

PAUI,  CORNEM,, 

69   BANDOLPH   STBEET. 

Paul  Cornell,  attorney  at  law,  rooms  1  and 
2,  as  above,  and  making  real  estate  a 
specialty,  laid  out  and  subdivided  twenty- 
seven  years  ago  the  original  vil- 
lage of  Hyde  Park,  a  part  of  it — 
section  11,  on  which  he  still  re-sides — 
coming  to  him  from  the  Canal  Com- 
missioners, or  practically  from  the  govern- 
ment In  1871  he  made  the  town  plat  of  Cor- 
neil,  now  Grand  Crossing,  and  all  through 
his  forty  years  of  honorable  residence  his 
namehas  stood  for  progress  and  improve- 
ment in  our  landed  interests;  noc  the  least 
of  his  valuable  services  being  in  connection 
with  the  South  parks.  He  is  now  closing  out 
at  the  lowest  possible  rates  some  of  the  best 
residence  lots  and  buildings  in  Hyde  Park ; 
also  factory  sites  with  unsurpnssed  railroad 
facilities  at  Grand  Crossing,  and  in  lots  or 
tracts  to  suit 

J.  P.  WHITE  &  CO- 
BOOM  4,  REAPER  BLOCK. 

These  long-established  real  estate  and  loan 
agents,  officing  as  above,  97  Clark  street, 
claim  to  keep  posted  in  values  in  all  central 
busine-s  property.  Their  specialty  is  this 
intimate  acquaintance  with  down  town  land 
quotations,  an  acquaintance  which  they  keei 
canstantly  up  with  the  times,  and  imm  • 
diately  serviceable  by  aid  of  a  vast  atlas  :  i 
which  are  daily  recorded  all  changes  in  o-.v.i 


CHICAGO'S   FIKST  MALI'  CENTURY. 


185 


ership  and  purchase  price.  The  invaluable 
help  thus  afforded  in  securing  property  at 
bottom  figures  is  testified  to  by  the  increas- 
ing number  of  buyers  who  have  used  Mr. 
White's  services  in  making  purchases.  With 
his  unique  facilities,  all  he  needs  is  a  descrip- 
tion of  property  wanted  in  order  to  imme- 
diately select  for  inspection  the  most  eligible 
property  at  command.  Some  of  the  best 
property  is  not  advertised,  or  even  placed  in 
the  "market,  yet  through  this  agency  of  J.  P. 
White  &  Co.'s  it  is  often  opened  to  negotia- 
tion and  transfer,  to  the  mutual  advantage 
of  buyer  and  seller. 

J.  B.  BURCHEL,!,. 

108   DEAHBOKN   STREET. 

If  a  long  and  intimate  acquaintance  with 
Chicago  land  values  is  a  desirable  possession 
for  a  real  estate  broker,  then  the  gentleman 
named  above — office  108  Dearborn  street — is 
one  of  the  best  equipped  in  the  Chicago 
fraternity.  His  knowledge  and  experience 
are  brought  into  requisition  especially  in 
transactions  of  large  importance — as  notably 
in  several  the  past  year — and  few  advisers  so 
hold  the  confidence  of  capitalists.  His  record 
is  his  best  eulogy,  and  every  patron  his  refer- 
ence. Handsomely  established  in  Hyde  Park, 
he  has  been  identified  with  some  of  the  most 
important  transactions  in  that  village. 
Speaking  of  the  new  year's  prospects,  Mr. 
Burchell  said  they  were  largely  assured  even 
by  pending  negotiations,  and  there  were 
doubtless  incubating  many  other  develop- 
ments of  first  magnitude.  Chicago  real 
estate  at  present  prices  was  a  mine  for 
golden  investment,  and  capitalists  abroad 
ana  at  home  had  awakened  to  the  realization 
of  the  fact  and  the  passing  opportunity. 

IRA   BROWN. 

"THE  SUBDIVIDED  " 

That  this  title,  "thesubdivider,7'  should  be 
bestowed  by  THE  INTER  OCEAN  this  New 
Year's  Day  on  Ira  Brown, Esq.  ,Nos.  142  and  144 
LaSalle  street,  is  a  recognition  demanded  by 
the  record  of  the  past  year,  the  most  nota- 
ble yet  even  in  the  long  and  distinguished 
career  of  this  prince  of  cheap  subdivisions 
for  the  people.  Himself  the  originator  of 
the  $5-a-month  plan  on  which  to  buy  a 
beautiful  suburban  lot,  he  it  is  who  has 
most  conspicuously  and  beneficially  devel- 
oped that  plan,  and  the  result  has  been  that 
the  virgin  prairie,  in  choice,  eligible  loca- 
tions, has  hardly  been  susceptible  of  swift 
enough  partition  into  these  popular-priced 
lots  to  meet  the  overwhelming  demand.  It 
is  simply  the  record  of  the  official  documents 
of  Cook  County  that  Mr.  Ira  Brown  consum- 
mates in  a  given  space  of  time  more  deals 
than  any  other  five  brokers  in  the  market,  and 
fortunate  is  it  for  future  possessors  of  like 
happy  suburban  homes  that  such  is  the  fact. 
A  visit  to  any  one  of  the  easily  accessible 
rural  spots  that  has  had  the  advantage  of  Mr. 
Ira  Brown's  patronage  will  discover  hundreds 
of  pleasant  cottages,  each  with  its  garden 
plat,  its  chickens,  its  own  "vine  and  fig  tree." 
and  if  the  smiling  householders  rise  up  and 
call  him  blessed,  the  unique  compliment  is 
only  deserved.  The  cottages  themselves. 


along  with  the  lots,  Mr.  Brown  sells  for  $1,- 
000  apiece,  and  lets  the  buyer  pay  for  his 
purchase  in  $15  monthly  installments— an 
offer  matching  the  popularity  of  the  $5-a- 
month  lot.  The  past  season  Mr.  Brown  has 
been  developing  Norwood  Park  more 
especially,  and  with  such  success 
that  he  has  already  nearly  sold  out  almost 
his  entire  great  new  subdivision,  hundreds 
and  hundreds  of  lots,  at  this  point  alone, 
being  bought  by  the  thrift  and  savings  of 
their  owners,  who  wisely  determine  now 
while  they  are  making  wages  to  buy  them- 
selves a  home.  His  interests  continue  undi- 
minished — because  constantly  supplied  by 
new  purchases— at  Gleucoe.  LaGransre,  Park 
Ridge,  Desplaines,  and  South  Chicago,  com- 
prising the  most  cheaply  reached  and  charm- 
ing environs  of  the  metropolis.  The  whole 
number  of  those  who  have  been  his  patrons 
at  one  or  another  of  these  points  runs  up 
into  the  thousanas.  The  cheapness  of  the 
bargains  offered  and  the  rare  facilities  of 
transportation  are  advantages  possessed 
by  these  suburban  homes  that  will  always 
insure  them  a  growing  popularity. 

During  the  open  weather  that  has  char- 
acterized most  of  the  present  season 
Mr.  Brown  has  gone  into  winter  quar- 
ters as  it  were  with  regard  to  his  subur- 
ban operations,  and  has  been  building 
some  handsome  residences  in  the  city, 
an  activity  that  he  has  formerly  indulged  in. 
These  very  desirable  houses,  seven  in  num- 
ber, being  two-story  bricks,  are  at  the  corner 
of  Hoyne  avenue  and  Jackson  street,  and 
will  be  ready  to  rent  by  May  1.  It  was  in 
this  near  neighborhood  that  last  winter  Mr. 
Brown  erected  that  elegant  block  of  six 
octagon  stone-fronta  The  new  buildings 
now  going  up,  while  pleasing  in  architecture, 
will  chiefly  consult  the  pockets  of  tenants. 

In  personal  traits  Mr.  Ira  Brown  is  a  most 
pleasant  and  honorable  gentleman  to  deal 
with,  and  those  who  come  as  clients  remain 
his  friends.  A  like  attention  and  courtesy, 
in  large  degree,  characterize  the  attaches  of 
the  office  who  are  only  less  devoted  than 
their  chief  himself  to  the  wants  of  customers. 
Certainly  Mr.  Brown's  terms  on  suburban 
houses  and  lots  may  be  denominated  bar- 
gains of  the  first  order;  with  land  in  and 
about  Chicago  rising  as  rapidly  as  it  is,  and 
with  rents  so  high,  a  $100  lot'  and  a  $1,000 
cottage  and  lot  are  bonanzas  that  are  very 
naturaliy  capturing  the  heads  and  hearts  of 
the  people.  Considering  the  gentleman's 
record,  and  the  inducements  he  offers,  his 
sales  under  the  auspices  of  the  New  Year 
must  vastly  outnumber  those  of  the 
past,  bringing  to  his  multitude  of  new  pa- 
trons, as  may  it  bring  to  the  old,  a  realization 
of  the  season's  compliments,  which  he  begs 
to  extend  to  one  and  all — "a  happy  New 
Year!" 

COOPER  &  CARSON, 

180     DEABBOBN     STBEET. 

This  is  a  newly-formed  real  estate  firm,  but 
its  members,  Messrs.  Andrew  J.  Cooper  and 
James  D.  Carson,  are  long  experienced  and 
heavily  interested  in  the  Chicasro  land  mar- 
ket. Their  recent  enterprise  in  renting  and 
starting  to  magnificently  improve  the  vauasit 
Brooks  estate  lot  on  Dearborn  street,  south 
of  Monroe,  promises  one  of  the  most  hand- 
some office  and  banking  buildings  in  the 
city,  and  already  it  is  largely  rented  before 


18(5 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CEiNTUIiY. 


completed.  The  firm  have  extensive  acre 
interests,  and  transactions,  it  being1  Mr. 
Cooper  who  negotiated  for  Mr.  Pennock  the 
purchase  of  Garfield.  Of  Hyde  Park  property, 
also,  they  make  a  feature. 

O.   M.  WEIXS   &   CO. 

A   MODEL   COTTAGE. 

The  cut  below  represents  the  style  of  house 
that  O.  M.  Wells  &  Co.  have  placed  extensively 
on  the  market  The  cottage  combines  great 
thoroughness  of  build  and  neatness  of  finish, 
along  with  moderate  price  and  easy  payments 
on  the  monthly  plan.  They  are  as  genuine 


as  they  are  cheap.  During  the  past  season 
the  firm  have  sold  in  their  various  subdivisions 
fully  sixty  of  these  houses,  and  the  demand 
continues  to  grow.  The  oftlce  of  tne  firm, 
at  No.  162  LaSalle  street,  Boom  17,  is 
indeed  the  recognized  headquarters  for  such 
deals,  while  a  throng  of  customers  is  also  at- 
tracted by  the  great  variety  offered  in  cheap 
lots.  The  gentlemen  composing  the  firm — 
O.  M.  Wells  and  J.  M.  Secrist — confirm  their 
customers'  good  will  and  enhance  the  value 
of  bargains  by  strict  squareness  in  dealing 
and  obliging  manners. 

ANDREWS,  BURHANS  &  COOPER. 

A  POPULAE  HOUSE. 

This  well-known  firm  has  remodeled  its 
title  as  above,  consequent  on  the  addition  of 
W.  D.  Cooper  to  its  forces  last  May,  but  their 
location  remains  the  same  at  102  Washing- 
ton street  No  change  either  has  come  to 
the  fair  dealing  and  business-like  methods, 
which  have  built  up  for  the  house  their  en- 
viable reputation  and  success.  Both  Mr.  An- 
drews and  Mr.  Cooper  represent  fifteen  years 
of  active  real  estate  and  financial  experience 
in  this  city.  The  latter  now  devotes  his 
wide  acquaintance  more  particularly  to  the 


renting,  loans,  and  general  brokerage  de- 
partment of  the  house.  The  former  has 
charge  of  all  negotiations  relating  to  monev 
matters,  the  house  making  a  specialty  of  real 
estate  secured  paper,  and  now  proposing  to 
enter  upon  the  handling  of  corporate  bonds 
The  legal  business  of  the  firm  is  under  the 
supervision  of  J.  A.  Burhans,  a  successfully 
practicing  lawyer,  who  for  the  past  seven 
years  has  concentrated  his  attention  to  the 
law  of  real  estate  and  taxes,  especially  the 
examination  and  perfecting  of  titles.  The 
firm  is  thus  equipped  for  a  varied  as  it  were 
a  triangular  service,  and  in  each  field  thev 
have  merited  the  distinction  they  have 
achieved.  THE  INTEB  OCEAN  takes  pleasure 
in  testifying  to  the  wide  and  growing  oper- 
ations and  popularity  of  the  house  They 
refer  to  leading  capitalist,  banking,  and  mer- 
cantile clients  East,  West,  and  South. 

A.  LOEB  &  BRO. 

LIVELY  LOANS. 

As  familiar  as  the  name  LaSalle  street,  where 
atNos.  129  and  131  they  have  so  long  been 
located,  is  the  title  of  these  well-known  gen- 
tlemen and  real  estate  and  loan  agents.  In 
volume  of  business  as  in  length  of  service 
they  are  identified  with  the  best  business  of 
the  street  in  both  these  departments — no 
house  more  so.  The  interests  of  the  firm 
embrace  lands  in  all  parts  of  the  city  and 
outlying  suburban  subdivisions,  while  in  the 
line  of  loans  the  patronage  of  the  house  is 
very  large  and  increasing.  In  both  depart- 
ments the  marked  activity  of  the  year  closed 
was  due  not  a  little  to  the  firm's  established 
name  for  lowest  prices  and  business-like 
methods.  For  the  new  year  the  gentlemen 
see  no  reason  for  and  have  no  expectation 
of  a  decline  in  the  land  and  loan  market  of 
this  capital  of  the  Northwest  On  the  co  n- 
trary,  the  prospect  favors  a  steady  apprecia- 
tion of  the  unsurpassed  securities  and  op- 
portunities for  investments  here  afforded. 

HOPKFNSONS&  SH/VA. 

CHICAGO'S  ELIGIBLE  LANDS. 
To  name  the  standard  and  representative 
houses  is  to  sing  the  praises  not  of  individ- 
uals, but  of  the  Chicago  land  market,  and  if 
modesty  and  retiring  worth  are  occasionally 
crucified,  the  public  weal  is  transfigured. 
Mr.  William  Hopkinson  and  Mr.  Chas.  P.  Silva, 
who  compose  this  well-known  firm — office. 
No.  123  Dearborn  street — speak  with  cheer  of 
the  market's  immediate  prospects,  and  with 
assurance  that  Chicago's  eligible  lands,  both 
urban  and  suburban,  will  continue  to  rise  in 
popular  appreciation  and  demand  commen- 
surately  with  the  steady  and  splendid 
progress  of  the  city.  Both  personally  and  as 
agents  for  the  Bfue  Island  Land  and  Build- 
ing Company,  the  gentlemen  are  identified 
with  the  rare  bargains  offered  in  charming 
homes  at  Morgan  Park  and  Washington 
Heights. 

SHOUTALt,    &    HELMER. 

110  DEABBOBN   STBEET. 

The  real  estate  interest  is  sustained  by 
no  firm  in  a  more  representative  and  pop- 
ular manner  than  by  the  well-known  house 
of  Shortall  &  Helmer,  No.  110  Dearborn 
street.  They  deal  in  real  estate  mortgages. 


CHICAGO      FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


187 


investment  stocks,  and  bonds;  have 
money  in  band  to  loan  at  lowest  market 
rates.  Mr.  Shortall  is  the  same  patron  of 
music,  it  need  hardly  be  said,  who  figures 
so  dramatically  and  salutarily  in  the  pre- 
lude to  this  stately  procession  of  Chicago's 
real  estate  investors.  Composing1  the  firm 
are  Messrs.  John  E.  Shortall,  Joseph  W.  Hel- 
mer,  and  Henry  L.  Frank. 

TURNER   &  BOND. 

OFFICE    102   WASHINGTON   STREET. 

This  substantial  and  well-known  firm 
transacted  the  past  year  the  extensive  and 
growing  business  that  has  placed  them  in  the 
front  rank  of  Chicago  brokers.  Deals  the 
largest  in  the  market  were  among  those 
consummated  through  their  asrency.  In  loans 
the  firm  have  placed  large  sums,  and  com- 
mand any  amount  on  security  of  inside  real 
estate.  'Non-residents,  more  numerously 
than  ever  before,  have  confided 
their  interests  to  this  house,  and 
on  some  of  these  properties 
— notably  that  of  Judge  David  Davis — Messrs. 
Turner  &  Bond  have  made  some  of  the  most 
extensive  improvements  of  the  year,  remark- 
able as  1883  has  been  for  its  building  boom. 
Thus,  on  Hanover  and  Butler  streets  alone, 
the  firm  built  over  twenty  houses  each,  and 
BO  substantial  and  popular  were  the  struct- 
ures that  many  were  spoken  for  before  com- 
pletion. -All  over  Chicago  the  widespread 
interests  of  the  firm  are  found,  and  the 
yearly  total  of  their  business  is  representative 
of  the  vast  fortunes  centered  here  in  real 
estate.  As  to  the  coming  year  the  firm 
kindly  assumed  the  mantle  of  prophecy,  at 
the  call  of  THE  INTEB  OCEAN,  and  predicted  a 
successor  worthy  to  occupy  the  business 
throne  of  1883;  the  promise,  based  on  Chi- 
cago's present  and  certain  future,  is  equally 
certain  and  assured. 

EXRA    L.    BRAINBRD, 

125  DEABBOKN   STBKET. 

This  well-known  attorney  and  investor 
purchased  property  at  Kenwood  in  1865, 
and  since  then  his  operations  have  been  ex- 
tensive at  that  point  and  in  Hyde  Park, 
South  Chicago,  the  Rock  Island  car  shops, 
and  South  Ensrlewood,  where  he  is  intimately 
posted  on  values.  At  the  latter  point  he 
subdivided  forty-five  acres  in  1873,  a  large 
part  of  which  he  still  owns.  Here  in  the  past 
year  he  has  sold  some  $15,000  wortti  of 
lots,  mostly  for  improvement,  a  number 
ot  nouses  having  already  been  erected. 
Mr.  Brainerd  predicts  for  this  point  a  steady 
advance,  if  not  an  immediate  boom.  Values 
in  this  subdivision  range  from  $6  to  $10 
per  foot 

BARNKS  &  PARISH. 

BENTS   AND   BEAT.,  ESTATE. 

This  prominent  house-renting  and  general 
real-estate  agency,  for  eleven  years  a  feature 
of  LaSalle  street.  No.  157,  and  one  of  the 
oldest  established  agencies  in  the  city,  has 
scarcely  less  than  2,000  buildings  under  its 
charge,  which  speaks  very  well  for 
the  care  they  take  of  property. 
"How  will  rents  be  the  coming 
year,  eh?"  said  Mr.  Barnes.  "The  present 
outlook  is  that  they  will  hold  their  own. 


Offices?  There  are  several  office  buildings 
now  croiny:  up  and  already  largely  rented  he- 
fore  completion.  When  the  Board  of  Trade 
moves,  though,  there  may  perhaps  be  some 
decline  north  of  Washington  street  On 
houses  I  don't  think  there  will  be  any  ad- 
vance, speaking  generally.  If  there  is'  any 
change  at  all,  rents  will  be  a  little  less,  but  'I 
think  they  will  hold  their  own.  Expensive 
houses  will  have  to  show  some  concession, 
but  medium-priced  houses  will  hold  their 
own. 

•'In  general  real  estate,"  Mr.  Parish  re- 
plied, "it  looks  as  though  sales  would  be 
pretty  active  the  coming  year.  Certainly  at 
the  present  time  the  market  holds  its  own, 
and  the  same  is  true  of  our  loans,  of  which 
we  are  still  making  a  good  many.  With  the 
city  steadily  increasing  in  size  the  value  of 
Chicago  property  must  appreciate  rapidly." 

M.    J.    RICHARDS, 

NO.    89   RANDOLPH   STBEET. 

It  is  tluiely  and  fitting  to  note  some  of  the 
strong  points  that  belong  to  our  land  brok- 
ers themselves  as  well  as  to  the  lands  they 
handle.  Through  a  long  connection  with 
the  Chicago  real  estate  market  Mr.  Richards 
has  always  stood  well,  no  man  having  put  a 
finger  on  him,  and  has  given  good  satisfac- 
tion in  the  business  he  has  been  connected 
with.  He  is  always  ready  to  wait  on  his  cus- 
tomers, who  have  been  numerous,  and  to  do 
it  to  their  satisfaction.  His  knowledge  of 
farms  in  the  State  of  Illinois  and  throughout 
the  Northwest  is  such  that  any  one  can  gain 
valuable  information  by  inquiri  g 
of  him.  He  has  made  many  sales 
for  the  Scotch  Mortgage  Company. 
Besides  selling  on  commission,  making 
extensive  loans,  and  dealing  gener- 
ally in  city  property,  the  gentleman 
gives  considerable  attention  to  Texas 
and  Southwestern  investments,  for  which 
there  is  a  growing  demand  in  this  metrop- 
olis, both  from  American  and  European  in- 
vestors, a  demand  which  Mr  Richards  is 
largely  meeting  and  is  especially  fitted  to  cater 
to  throusrh  his  interest  in  those  directions.  If 
buyers  of  bargains  the  past  year  in  his  line 
would  duplicate  their  success,  let  them . 
communicate  with  M.  J.  Richards,  89  Ran 
dolph  street. 

J.  F.  KEENEY. 

PENNOCK,    OBAGIN,  ETC. 

The  property  northwest  of  and  adjoining 
the  city  is  rapidly  coming  to  the  front  as 
not  only  a  great  manufacturing  center,  but 
also  a  very  desirable  residence  for  clerks  and 
laboring  men.  The  property  is  high  and  dry, 
in  easy  walking  distance  of  Humboldt  Park, 
and  only  a  short  drive  to  the  business  center 
of  Chicago.  Its  railroad  facilities  are  the 
very  best,  with  only  5-cent  fare  from 
Cragin,  Garfield,  and  Pennock,  on  both 
the  divisions  of  the  Milwaukee  and  St.  Paul 
Railroad  as  well  as  the  Northwestern, 
the  Belt  Railroad,  and  the  street  railroad  to 
Humboldt  Park.  There  are  located  within  two 
miles  of  Humboldt  Park  the  Cragin  Manufac- 
turing Company,  the  Washburn  &  Moen  Com- 
pany, the  Hibbard  Spencer  &  Bartlett  ware- 
house, the  Foster  Rotary  Plow  Com- 


188 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


pany,  the  Superior  Nail  Company,  and 
the  extensive  manufactory  now  being  erected 
by  Howard  Pennock  for  the  Miltimore  Elastic 
Steel  Car  Wheel  Company,  which  will  give 
employment  alone  to  1,000  men. 

Mr.  J.  F.  Keeney  has  been  largely  instru- 
mental in  locating  these  different  factories  at 
this  point  and  in  securing  the  Belt  Railroad 
for  this  section.  0.  B.  Hosmer  &  Son  and  Mr. 
Keeney  are  the  owners  of  Cragin,  except  ten 
acres  sold  by  them  to  the  Cragin  Manufac- 
turing- Company.  Mr.  Keeney  is  owner  of 
several  acre  tracts  subdivided  and  placed  as 
additions  to  Pennock.  Besides  he  and  his 
brothers  are  agents  for  the  sale  of  Pennock 
property,  and  have  their  office  and  teams  at 
Humboldt  Park,  at  Pennock,  and  94  Wash- 
ington street,  and  are  prepared  at  all  times 
to  show  the  property  and  make  sales.  Plats 
and  prices  can  be  obtained  at  either  of  their 
offices.  There  is  no  safer  or  better  invest- 
ment for  a  sure  profit  than  lots  at  present 
prices  in  the  new  town  of  Pennock. 

E.  W.   WESTFALL,. 

99    WASHINGTON   STREET. 

Though  the  veterans  of  the  trade  have 
largely  given  the  Chicago  real-estate  market 
its  National  reputation,  the  young  men  take 
the  cake  for  push.  This  remark  is  not  a 
platitude,  but  exactly  apt  and  truthfully  de- 
scriDtive  when  Mr.  Westfall's  name  is  writ- 
ten." With  the  success  that  crowns  well-di- 
rected energy,  his  career  compliments 
equally  the  man  and  the  market;  nor  is  there 
danger  that  the  fame  of  Chicago  land  broker- 
age shall  suffer  demoralization  in  the 
younger  generation.  Doing  a  general  real- 
estate  business  for  others  as  well  as  hand- 
ling his  own  estate,  Mr.  Westfall  consum- 
ated  some  of  the  leading  deals  of  the  year, 
and  his  expectation  of  even  livelier  times  in 
1884  is  a  valuable  index  to  the  future. 

PIKRCE  &  WARE. 

143   LA   SALLE   STKEET. 

These  real  estate  and  financial  brokers  have 
built  up  an  enviable  name  and  reputation, 
and  yet  one  that  fifteen  yaars  of  honorable, 
business-like  service  has  rightfully  yielded 
them.  They  report  a  very  prosperous  year. 
Real  estate  is  bought  and  sold,  time  loans 
effected,  rents  collected  and  promptly  re- 
mitted. A  very  successful  specialty  is  made 
of  central  business  property  and  the  care  of 
estates  for  non-residents.  *  Capitalists  own- 
ing down  town  property  have  very  numer- 
ously retained  their  services,  more  such  prop- 
erty being  in  charge  of  this  firm  probably 
than  of  any  other  in  Chicago,  not  the  least 
popular  feature  of  their  method  being  the 
promptness  and  exact  regularity  of  remit- 
tances. The  outlook  impresses  the  firm  as 
every  way  encouraging. 

NOAH  BARNES. 

HYDE  PAKE  LAND& 

The  name  of  this  broker,  who  is  at  home  at 
No.  85  Washington  street,  room  5,  has  long 
been  synonymous  with  a  successfully  con- 
servative trade,  more  especially  in  Hyde 
Park  lands.  The  very  prefix  "Noah"  sug- 
gests an  ark  of  safety  against  floods  of  loose 
speculation,  while  the  surname  "Barnes"' 


pictures  truthfully  in  this  case  a  secure  store- 
house for  investments.  The  gentleman  is  one 
of  the  experienced,  cautious  operators,  whose 
long  acquaintance  with  values  and  men  have 
made  his  ideas  and  services  invaluable  to  a 
widening  clientage,  as  well  as  in  his  own  per- 
sonal transactions.  Mr.  Barnes,  besides  his 
Hyde  Park  estate,  owns  extensive  interests 
near  Humboldt  Park,  where  all  property  is  so 
remarkably  appreciated  by  the  wonderful  de- 
mand of  late  for  cheap  lots. 

B.    R.    DeYOUXG    &    CO., 

AS  PKOGEESSIVE   AS   YOUNG. 

B.  R.  De  Young  &  Co.,  No.  85  Wash- 
ington street,  have  won  a  place 
among  the  most  progressive  and  busy  young1 
brokers  in  the  real  estate  market.  Their 
commission  business  in  buying  and  selling  is 
scarcely  subordinated  even  to  the  very  ex- 
tensive line  of  down-town  and  residence 
property  which  they  manage  for  non-resi- 
dents. The  payment  of  taxes  and  collection 
of  rents  is,  at  the  same  time,  a  field 
very  extensively  cultivated  and  with  a  de- 
gree of  popular  encouragement  and  success 
that  speaks  volumes  for  the  courtesy  and 
faithfulness  of  the  agency.  The  new"  year, 
in  Mr.  De  Young's  estimation,  promises  as 
auspiciously  as  1883. 

KINNE*  &  KIMBAIX. 

86   WASHINGTON    STREET. 

The  partners  in  this  well-known  Washing- 
ton street  firm  of  real  estate  and  investment 
agents  are  Messrs.  W.  C.  Kinney  and  J.  E. 
Kimball.  They  buy  and  sell  city  andcouiitrv 
property,  negotiate  loans,  pay  taxes  and 
manage  estates,  and  in  all  their  transactions 
have  achieved  an  enviable  reputation  and 
record.  The  firm  make  a  specialty  of  prop- 
erty in  the  south  division,  Hyde'  Park  and 
Town  of  Lake,  handling  it  extensively.  No 
firm  in  the  city  are  better  posted  in  values  or 
have  better  facilities  for  handling  property  in 
the  above  sections  than  Messrs.  Kinney  & 
Kimball  The  patronage  of  the  house  is  one 
constantly  extending,  as  their  fidelity  to 
clients  is  well  known.  Under  such  auspices 
and  with  the  handsome  business  they  trans- 
acted the  past  year,  the  firm  cannot  but  an- 
ticipate a  prosperous  year  in  the  Chicago 
real  estate  market 

WOODKURY    M.    TAYLOR. 

FROM  THE   PEN  TO  THE   ACHE. 

Formerly  a  journalist,  and  always  distin- 
guished for  brains  and  bon  homme,  what 
wonder  that  this  genial  gentleman  and 
prudent  land  operator.  No.  108  Dear- 
born street,  keeps  all  his  old  friends 
and  makes  hosts  of  new?  Returning  the 
past  year  to  his  first  love,  the  handling  of 
his  native  land  in  this  latitude  and  longi- 
tude, Mr.  Taylor  has  at  once  resumed  the 
old-time  prominence  and  success.  In  Hyde 
Park  is  he  not  a  school  magnate?  and  where 
belter  than  in  the  immediate  circle  of  those 
townsmen  who  best  know,  respect,  and 
honor  him  should  be  the  site  of  his  chief 
property  and  largest  activity?  One  cannot 
stay  to  count  lines  in  proclaiming  the  A  1 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


189 


quality  both  of  this  man  and  of  the  rare  bar- 
gains that  have  blessed  his  customers.  Give 
him  a  call  whether  you  have  lands  or 
houses  to  buy  or  sell,  nor  resort  fco 
oaths  to  make  reliable  the  representations 
of  a  gentleman  who  is  truth  and  fairness 
embodied. 

CHARLES    CLEAVER    AND    SON. 

125  DEARBORN  ST. — A   VETEBAN  HOUSE. 

The  senior  member  of  this  firm  commenced 
the  purchase  of  real  estate  in  Chicago  as 
early  as  1835,  since  which  time  he  has  dealt 
largely  in  property  in  all  parts  of  the  city; 
for  the  last  thirty  years  more  especially  in 
residence  property  in  the  southern  portion  of 
the  city  and  Hyde  Park,  where  their  sales  the 
past  year  have  been  very  extensive.  Conse- 
quently his  familiarity  wit  J  that  location 
renders  his  judgment  of  values  second  to 
none.  Having1  associated  with  him  his  son, 
F.  W.  Cleaver,  who  is  acquainted  with  every 
foot  of  property  from  Thirty <first  street  to 
the  Calumet  Ri'ver,  parties  wishing  either  to 
sell  or  purchase  may  be  sure  of  correct  in- 
formation ae  to  prices,  titles,  etc. 

JAMES    M.    GAMBLE, 

40  DEARBORN  STKEET. 

James  M.  Gamble,  mortgage,  loan,  and  real 
estate,  financial  and  renting  agent,  late  J.  & 
J.M. Gamble,  carries  on  a  business  established 
in  1847,  his  office  being  rooms  4,  5,  6.  7, 
and  8  Dickey  Building,  40  Dearborn  street, 
Chicago.  This  is  one  of  the  oldest  houses  in 
the  West,  and  represents  many  of  the  very 
largest  estates,  their  business  in  magnitude 
being  second  to  none  in  the  West  ~  In  the 
management  of  estates  they  represent  the 
Dickey,  the  Manierre.  the  Hadduck,  the  De- 
Koven,  the  Wells,  the  Snow  estates,  and  oth- 
ess  too  numerous  to  mention.  Although  this 
firm  has  upward  of  1,000  tenants,  in  not  a 
single  case  have  they  vacant  premises,  nor  ie 
this  an  exceptional  record  for  them.  The 
popular  new  Albany  apartment  building, 
costing  $100,000,  is  owned  by  this  firm 

BELDEN    F.    CULVER, 

319  FIRST   NATIONAL  BANK  BUILDING. 

To  name  this  well-known  financial  and 
real  estate  agent  no  words  of  commendation 
are  necessary.  For  many  years  Mr.  Culver 
has  been  prominently  identified  with  the 
development  of  Chicago,  and  has  made  for 
himself  a  record  for  enterprise,  sterling  in- 
tegrity, and  fine  business  judgment.  As  ne- 
gotiator in  financial  or  real  estate  transac- 
tions he  is  reliable,  trustworthy,  intelligent, 
and  discreet 

ERNST    PRUSSING. 

95  RANDOLPH   STREET. 

Mr.  Ernst  Trussing  came  to  Chicago  in 
1849,  and  after  a  short  time  in  the  hard- 
ware business  opened  a  real  estate  office 
which  has  continued  uninterruptedly  and 
successfully  ever  since,  a  length  of  service 
equaled  by  but  two  or  three  other  Chicago 
real  estate  dealers.  He  has  always  been  re- 
sponsible for  all  he  undertook.  Mr.  Trussing 


cnaraeterized  as  a  wrong  feature  the  forced 
depression  of  the  more  out.yin«-  sections  of 
the  city,  consequent  on  the  fire  ordin  in  :e. 
which  caused  the  unduly  and  dangerously 
high  buildings  in  the  center  of  the  city.  A 
modification  of  that  ordinance  was  dug  to  the 
sections  so  long  discriminated  against.  The 
past  year  has  seen  active  operations  in  the 
center  of  the  city  and  in  the  suburbs.  Mr. 
Trussing  makes  loans  extensively,  also  has  a 
large  renting  patronage.  As  to  tb.3  business 
of  the  new  year,  Mr.  Trussing  said  of  course 
the  prospect  was  favorable  because  we 
lived  in  Chicago. 

H.  A.  HURLBUT. 

THB    KARKET  FOR  LOANS. 

In  order  to  get  at  the  situation  on  loans. 
THE  INTER  OCEAN  interviewed  this  well-kno  wn 
gentleman  and  extensive  operator,  No.  123 
D  earborn  street,  being  well  assured  of  a  rep- 
resentative answer  to  inquiries.  "For  the 
past  year,"  said  Mr.  Hurlbut,  "the  tendency 
of  my  customers  has  been  to  loan  rather  tuan 
invest,  and  the  amount  of  business  has  been 
much  larger  than  the  year  previous,  but  more 
in  loans  than  in  investments.  The  firmness 
and  strength  with  which  central  property  has 
been  held  has  been  rather  above  what  parties 
could  consider  as  good  bargains.  Rates  ttis 
past  year  have  been  firmer — 6  per  cent  the 
average.  The  outlook  for  the  coming  year  is 
better  still,  owing  to  the  growth  of  the  city. 
the  actual  demand  for  more  buildings,  and 
the  building  by  owners  of  property  for  their 
own  occupation." 

SCHRADER  BROS., 

178   DEARBORN   STREET. 

One  of  the  longest-established  and  best- 
known  real  estate  agencies  in  Chicago  is  con- 
ducted by  the  Schrader  Bros. ,  office  as  above. 
Since  1865  they  have  done  a  general  land 
business,  including  the  charge  of  property, 
tax  payments,  and  rent  collections,  the  busi- 
ness steadily  growing  on  their  hands  to  its 
present  great  and  still  developing  propor- 
tions. The  firm  handle  Lake  View  and  Hyde 
Park  property  extensively,  also  advancing 
money  for  improvement  purposes,  and  to 
them  is  due  not  a  little  of  the  up-building  of 
those  districts,  both  of  which  are  advancing 
more  rapidly  now  than  ever  in  public  favor. 

J.  APPLETOX  WILSON. 

162  LA  SALLE  STREET. 

This  well-known  broker  has  operated  in 
lands  since  1868,  at  which  time  he  was  the 
Trustee  of  the  Kavenswood  Land  Company 
and  ever  since  has  been  identified  with  sub- 
urban interests,  more  especially  in  Engle- 
wood,  Normalville,  and  Lawndale.  He  has 
prominently  contributed  to  the  remarkable 
number  of  new  houses  that  have  been  built 
and  marketed  the  past  season  in 
the  above  suburbs,  his  houses  being 
sold  on  easy  payments  at  prices  rang- 
ing from  $1.200  co  $5,000  and  $10.000, 
while  building  lots  ranged  from  $10  to  $.">0  a 
foot  The  prospect  is  that,  with  the  comple- 
tion of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  ju^taoross 
the  street  from  the  depot,  the  new 
year  will  bring  to  these  nearest  and  long- 
popular  suburbs  more  new  residents  than 


190 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST   HALF  CENTURY 


ever.  Mr.  Wilson  has  charge  of  extensive  es. 
tates  of  non-residents,  besides  transacting  a 
loaning1  and  renting  business. 

ALIJERT  WISNER. 

HOMES    FOB   THE     MANY. 

Transacting  a  real  estate  business  in  all  its 
branches,  Mr.  Wisner,  No.  69  Dearborn 
street,  Rooms  1  and  2,  is  now  identified  more 
particularly  with  the  movement  to  furnish 
comfortable  and  mode  rate-priced  homes,  such 
a  notable  feature  of  the  situation  at  this  time. 
His  subdivisions  lie  in  all  desired  directions 
and  his  clients  are  legion.  It  is  certainly  a 
healthy  market  when  such  a  general  deter- 
mination to  own  a  home  shows  itself,  and 
tnat  dealer  is  a  public  benefactor  who  puts 
the  desired  boon  most  easily  and  cheaply 
within  reach.  Loans  to  build  such  homes  are 
made  by  Mr.  Wisner,  and  with  the  help  thus 
afforded  many  of  our  young  business  men 
are  occupying  homes  of  their  own,  particu- 
larly in  the  south  portion  of  the  town  of 
Lake  View,  adjoining  the  city  limits.  A  fea- 
ture of  Mr.  Wisner's  business,  also,  is  an  ex- 
tensive line  of  rents. 

F.   C.    ViERLJNG. 

YOUTH,  DASH,  AND  SUCCESS. 

No  annual  trade  review  would  be  thorough 
unless  reflecting  the  year's  record  of  such  a1 
representative  of  the  youth,  dash,  ana  suc- 
cess that  have  made  famous  this  Chicago  real 
estate  broker.  In  himself  he  epitomizes  the 
qualities  that  in  any  vocation  place  their  pos- 
sessor at  the  front,  and  it  is  not  strange  that 
his  spacious  ground  floor  office,  No.  110  Dear- 


born street,  is  recognized  as  a  hea  i-center  for 
the  trade  Besides  a  general  real  estate 
agency,  Mr.  Vierling  handles  as  a  specialty 
West  Side  business  property  and  South  Side 
business  and  residence  property.  The  de- 
mand for  lands,  that  surest  of  investments, 
he  regards  as  even  more  auspicious  for  1884 
than  during  last  year,  while  the  call  for 
houses,  along  with  the  rents  thereof,  must 
continue  as  sustained  as  Chicago's  wonderful 
growth  in  population  and  importance,  a 
growth  never  more  notable  than  now 

W.  H.  I>AV1S. 

BENTS  AND    COMMISSIONS. 

Chicago  has  many  real  estate  agents,  but 
to  no  one  can  an  owner  entrust  property 
with  a  greater  certainty  that  it  will  be  care- 
fully and  faithfully  looked  after  than  to  Mr. 
W.  H.  Davis,  room  38. 156  Washington  street. 
His  established  record  and  his  constantly  en- 
larging number  of  patrons  justify  this  state- 
ment. Mr.  Davis  conducts  a  general  real  es- 
tate commission  business,  and  has  a  arrowing 
line  of  rents.  While  largely  on  the  West 
Side,  his  tracts  extend  over  the  entire  city. 
No  more  affable  or  honorable  gentleman,  the 
remarK  must  be  interpolated,  adorns  his  pro- 
fession in  this  city. 

JOHN  H.   OIILERKING. 

NO.    150  DEARBORN  STREET. 

Both  as  owner  and  agent  this  active  real 
estate  broker  has  been  established  in  busi- 
ness here  for  several  years,  and  is  enjoying  a 
trade  that  is  larger  each  year. 


CHAPTER   XV. 


191 


SOME    SUBURBS 

LA    GRANGE. 

A  CHARMING   ENVIRON. 

If  Ghicag-o  is  the  Northwestern  sun,  La 
Grange  is  the  moon,  rising  queenly  on  the 
West  and  glowing  in  reflected  brillance  and 
splendor.  A  journey  to  this  moon,  unlike  Jules 
Verne's,  takes  only  thirty  minutes,  while  no 
fanciful  aeronaut's  car  but  a  luxurious  Bur- 
ling-ton  and  Quiucy  coach  cleaves  the  yield- 
ing space.  But  metaphor  misleads,  for  this 
charming  environ,  perched  on  the  first  ridge 
west  of  the  metropolis,  is  like  unto  nothing 
but  its  own  unapproachable  self.  What 
other  suburb  has  such  rolling,  picturesque 
vistas?  What  other  such  "poems"  in  taste- 
ful cottage  and  mansioned  stone,  such  loves 
of  lawns,  such  gems  of  ohurches?  Where 
more  flourishing  and  abundant  shade-trees, 
evergreens,  hedges,  gardens?  Where  more 
solid  driveways;1  Where  such  drainage,  con- 
fessedly unsurpassed.  Whore  more  pure  and 
crystalline  water,  the  very  substratum  of  the 
village  being  a  gravel  filter?  What  commun- 
ity of  2,000  souls  more  cultured  and 
refined,  more  steadily  growing,  and  in- 
stinct with  good  neighborship?  What 
other  suburb  has  finer  quarries 
of  building  stone  at  its  very  door?  About 
!()'.>  new  and  fine  houses  were  added  to 
LuG range  the  past  season.  The  markets  and 
schools  are  of  nighest  grade.  There  are  two 
depots  in  the  village,  while  the  railway 
terminus  in  towu  is  that  headquarters  of  ac- 
cessibility, the  Union  Depot,  Madison  street 
bridge.  Mr.  F.  D.  Cossitt,  as  the  original 
proprietor,  still  owns  a  considerable  tract  of 
the  choicest  property,  though  the  demands 
from  purchasers  and  the  favorable  prices  and 
terms  are  rapidly  multiplying  the  lords 
of  the  manor.  With  the  integrity 
of  a  gentleman  as  his  basal  characteristic, 
and  with  a  rare  superstructure  of  the  ameni- 
ties that  make  agreeable  and  pleasant,  as 
well  as  profitable,  the  dealings  of  man  with 
man,  the  tribute  is  irrepressible  that  Mr. 
Cossitt  is  the  customers'  beau  ideal.  Formerly 
for  many  vears  Mr.  Cossitt  was  engaged 
with  marked  success  in  the  wholesale  grocery 
business  in  this  city,  and  his  reputation  and 
standing  among  merchants  and  business  men 


were  of  the  best  In  the  general  wreck  at  the 
time  of  the  great  fire,  when  so  many  obliga- 
tions were  compromised  and  notes  extended, 
Mr.  Cossitt  promptly  paid  dollar  for  dollar, 
though,  believing  in  home  industries,  home 
insurance,  placing  his  policies  in  Chicago,  he 
lost  all.  Turning  his  attention  to  the  develop- 
ment of  his  landed  estate,  the  gentleman  has 
devoted  a  fortune  to  the  enrichment  and 
beautifying  of  La  Grange,  and  it  is 
with  natural  pride  he  now  witnesses  its 
flood-tide  of  prosperity  and  popularity.  As- 
sociated with  him  at  the  LaGrange'  head- 
quarters, rooms  5  and  6,  85  Washington 
street,  are  his  son,  Mr.  F.  D.  Cossitt,  Jr. ,  and 
Mr.  0.  W.  Richmond,  and  they  also  are  ever 
ready  with  plats,  maps,  and  a  courtesy  and 
eloquence  worthy  their  senior  to  forward  the 
quest  for  model  suburban  homes. 

MAPE.EWOOD. 

J.    WHITNEY  FARLIN,    OWNEB. 

Back  in  1838  the  160  acres  now  embracing 
this  nourishing  suburb  on  the  Wisconsin  Di- 
vision of  the  Northwestern  Eailroad,  only 
four  miles  from  the  Court  House  and  fifteen 
minutes  ride,  were  sold  for  $200 — no,  not 
apiece,  but  ia  the  lump.  One  half  was  sold 
the  same  year  for  the  same  total — an  advance 
of  100  per  cent— and  in  1869  the  same  prop- 
erty was  bought  for  $53,000  by  Messrs.  Wing 
&  Farlin,  who  named  their  straightway  sub- 
divided estate  Maplewood,  in  anticipation  of 
the  luxuriant  maples  soon  to  rise  in  um- 
brageous groves  echoing  the  plash  of  an  ar- 
tesian well  that  flows  forth  in  quantities  of 
250  gallons  of  pure  crystal  water  per 
minute.  Since  then  sales  have  been  rapid, 
and  larije  numbers  of  houses  built,  and  still 
the  popular  interest  increases.  And  no 
wonder;  for  are  not  commutation  tickets  but 
6i%  cents,  with  street  car  fare  to  within  four 
blocks  only  5  cents?  Is  not  the  land  high 
and  the  soil  rich?  Are  there  not  the  best  of 
graded  schools?  Does  not  Humboldt  boule- 
vard, that  go.den  clasp  in  the  city's  girdle  of 
park  and  drive,  pass  through  the  center  of 
the  property?  While,  as  to  the  population,  do 
not  the  neat,  often  elegant  houses,  bespeak  its 
thrifty  and  eligible  character?  Indeed,  there 
is  a  public  spirit  worthy  the  situation  and 
assured  future  of  the  place.  Thus,  lake 
water  is  about  to  be  supplied,  via  Lake  View, 
and  a  rousing  mass  meeting  the  other  night 


192 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


inaugurated  still  further  additions  to  the  ex- 
ceptional improvements  already  enjoyed. 
Here  residences  of  frame  are  lawful,  being 
outside  the  fire  limits;  here  no  city  tax  col- 
lector lurks;  here  a  home  may  be  secured  on 
easy  terms  and  long-  payments.  Mr.  J.  Whit- 
ney Farlin,  No.  85  Washington  street,  who  is 
still  the  owner  of  a  large  part  of  Maplewood 
— replenished  by  new  purchases  as  often  as 
diminished— sells  lots  for  from  $300  to  $700. 
About  four  hundred  lots  have  been  sold,  and 
Mr.  Farlin  has  just  added  to  his  tract  about 
forty  acres  more  which  will  be  at  once  placed 
on  the  market.  Besides  his  Maplewood  prop- 
erty, this  gentleman,  one  of  our  well-known 
and  long  established  dealers,  owns  other  ex- 
tensive tracts,  as  for  instance  near  McCor- 
mick's  reaper  works  and  in  Hyde  Park. 

WESTERN      SPRINGS. 

MEDICINAL  WATEB — CHAKMINQ  HOMES. 

As  the  title  intimates. there  is  no  need  to  go 
into  Wisconsin  to  find  another  Waukesha 
with  waters  of  refreshment  and  health;  Chi- 
cago has  them  at  her  door  in  Western  Springs. 
The  coming  health  resort— and  do  not  folks 
repair  there  already? — is  but  thirty  minutes 
removed  from  the  Burlington  and  Quincy 
depot  in  the  heart  of  the  city,  a  nearness  to 
business  that  must  more  and  more  popular- 
ize and  populate  the  suburb.  The  ground  is 
rolling  and  elevated,  and  the  residents  the 
most  substantial  and  pleasant  of  people. 
There  are  excellent  school  privileges,  with 
churches  that  are  well  sustained. 
And  when  it  is  said  that  an  atmosphere  of 
welcome  and  high  public  morals  is  abroad, 
and  thao  further,  specially  moderate  terms 
are  made  by  Mr.  T.  C.  Hill,the  agent,  room  1, 
Lake  Side  Building,  an  additional  prophesy 
is  seen  for  a  prosperous  future  of  the  suburb. 
Mr.  Hill  is  making  sales  at  figures  that  make 
a  suburban  home  within  the  reach  of  all,  and 
the  coming  year  promises  at  quickened  ac- 
tivity. Any  one  contemplating  an  out-of- 
town  establishment,  where  health  and  nature 
wait  on  the  resident,  should  pay  a  visit  to 
Western  Springs  and  his  purpose  will  be  con- 
firmed. 

MORGAN  PARK-WASHINGTON  HEIGHTS 

ATTBACTIVE  SUBUBBS. 

Uplifted,  an  island  of  woodland  charm  ris- 
ing twelve  miles  south  of  the  city  from  the 
treeless  expanse  of  the  prairie,  lies  this 
favorite  suburb.  For  six  miles  the  sylvan 
ridge  extends,  and  who  that  has  looked 
down  from  that  eyrie  on  the  outstretch- 
ing panorama  can  soon  forget  it!  A  natural 
advantage  so  marked  would  of  itself  have 
endeared  such  a  spot  to  Chicagoans  whose 
business  hours  are  level  all  day  with  monot- 
onous low-lands,  and  very  naturally  at  the 
evening  hour,  musical  as  vesper  bell,  come 
the  homeward  summons,  "Come  up  higher!" 
But  hard  business,  as  well  as  hygiene  and 
sentiment,  has  cons mred  to  exalt  this  suburb. 
The  Blue  Island  Land  and  Building  Com- 
pany, by  their  agents.  Messrs.  Hop- 
kinson  &  Silva,  No.  123  Dearborn 
street,  have  made  easily  accessible, 
through  exceptionally  favorable  terms,  these 
advantages  of  a  semi-mountainous  residence. 
By  consequence  few  suburbs  are  so  populous 
as  well  as  popular  as  "The  Heights,"  and  the 
new  influx  of  fortunates  and  the  new  up- 
building of  handsome  residences  must  con- 


tinue steadily.  Certainly  more  noble  site* 
for  a  home  tnan  along  Prospect  avenue  and 
similar  driveways  cannot  well  be  imagined, 
and  the  coming  year  must,  if  possible,  sur- 
pass the  past  in  the  activity  of  new  settle- 
ment. As  the  seat  of  a  flourishing  military 
academy,  with  its  educational  companions 
of  equally  foremost  rank — the  Young  Ladies' 
School  and  the  Theological  Seminary — Mor- 
gan Park  has  a  reputation  not  continad  to 
the  West.  _ 

PENNOCK. 

HEAVY  MANUFACTURING. 

This  growing  manufacturing  suburb  of 
Chicago,  located  five  miles  northwest  of  the 
Court  House,  in  the  town  of  Jefferson,  can 
be  reached  by  trains  of  the  Chicago,  Milwau- 
kee and  St  Paul,  both  main  line  and  Pacific 
branch,  and  also  by  two  belt  roads,  one  al- 
ready in  operation  and  the  other  in  contem- 
plation, its  right  of  way  already  secured 
These  railroad  facilities  put  the  suburb  in 
connection  with  every  Chicago  railroad  and 
make  it  second  to  none  in  accessibility  and 
desirability  for  manufacturing  purposes. 
Fare  by  steam  cars  is  only  5  cents,  and,  fur- 
thermore, the  street  cars  will  be  extended  to 
Penupck  during  next  summer.  The  Miltimore 
Elastic  Steel  Car  Wheel  Company  is  now 
erecting  at  this  point  their  immense 
factory,  in  which  will  be  employed 
about  500  men  the  1st  of  May. 
Other  extensive  works  are  now  in  operation, 
notably  those  of  the  Washourn-Moen  manu- 
factory of  barbed  wire.  The  immense  factory 
which  was  originally  built  for  locomotive 
works  is  now  partly  occupied  for  manu- 
facturing purposes,  and  the  unoccupied  part 
will  be  utilized  by  May  1,  also  for  manu- 
facturing. Other  manufactories  will  follow 
soon,  and  altogether  thousands  of  people 
will  be  employed  in  this,  Chicago's  nearest 
manufacturing  suburb.  Arrangements  will 
be  made  to  supply  the  thriving  town  with 
lake  water,  and  the  streets  leading  to  Pen- 
nock  will  be  improved,  putting  it  in  easy 
driving  communication  with  the  city. 
This  town,  comprising  1,200  acres, 
has  been  purchased  by  the  mill- 
ionaire, Homer  Pennock,  of  New  York, 
through  Dwight  K  Tripp,  Esq. ,  of  this  city, 
who  is  managing  the  property  as  agent  for 
Mr.  Pennock  along  with  the  well-known  and 
long-established  real  estate  firm  of  E.  S. 
Dreyer  &  Co..  who  have  successfully  handled 
many  sub-divisions  around  the  city,  their 
transactions  in  this  line  extending  over  nine- 
teen years. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  Pennock  will  be  the 
Bite  of  the  largest  steel  works  in  the  entire 
country.  Twenty-five  brick  houses  will  tje 
commenced  as  soon  as  the  weather  permits, 
and  trades-people  have  already  eng  iged  lota 
on  which  they  will  locate  their  shops  and 
business  places  next  spring.  Lots  can 
be  secured  in  Pennock  at  from 
$300  upward.  according  to  location, 
and  are  actviely  in  request,  as  the  tide  of 
settlement  is  rapidly  advancing  in  this  direc- 
tion. There  have  been  fully  400  houses  built 
northwest  of  the  city  within  the  last  two 
years,  being  out  of  the  fire  limits  and  beyond 
the  reach  of  citv  taxes,  and  this  drift  is  keep- 
ing up  steadily  toward  Penuock.  An  inter- 
esting sight  can  be  had  by  taking  the  Mil- 
waukee and  North  avenue  street  cars  to 
their  present  terminus  and  then  by 
walking  over  to  Pennock,  the  houses 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUBY. 


193 


being  so  numerous  as  to  seem 
like  an  extension  of  the  city.  It  will  be  a 
pleasant  walk,  as  sidewalks  extend  along 
North  and  Armitage  avenues  quite  to  the 
rising  works,  as  multitudes  of  seekers  after 
homes  are  now  proving.  To  accommodate 
the  growing  demand  a  branch  office  for  the 
sale  of  these  popular  lots  will  be  opened  Jan. 
15  by  E.  S.  Dreyer  &  Co.  right  on  the  ground 
opposite  the  depot.  For  the  convenience  and 
cheapness  of  building,  bricks  are  made  by  the 
company  in  the  immediate  neighborhood, 
and  in  a  certain  part  of  the  town  only  bricks 
will  be  used,  but  the  rest  can  be  improved  in 
a  manner  to  suit  the  taste  of  settlers.  The 
land  is  high,  dry,  beautiful  of  location  and 
with  facilities  for  perfect  drainage. 

CCJMMINGS. 

BBOBNT  BUT  BOOMING. 

The  town  of  Cummings,  named  for  the 
Hon.  C.  R.  Cummings,  of  Brown,  Howard  <fe 
Co.,  formerly  known  as  Irondale,  between 
the  Calumet  River  and  Lake  Calumet  and  im- 
mediately west  of  the  Calumet  Iron  and  Steel 
Company's  plant,  and  really  what  might  be 
properly  called  a  portion  of  South  Chicago, 
is  the  highest  and  dryest  tract  of  land  in  that 
vicinity,  and  affords  railroad  facilities  quite 
equal  to  any  portion  of  South  Chicago.  It 
has  the  Pittsburg,  Fort  Wayne  and  Chicago 
Railroad,  the  Lake  Shore  and  Michigan  South- 
ern Railroad,  the  Chicago,  Rock  Island  and 
Pacific  Railroad,  the  New  York,  Chicago  and 
St  Louis  Railroad  (Nickel-plate),  the  Erie 
Railroad,  the  Louisville  and  New  Albany 
Railroad,  the  Chicago  and  Western  Indiana 
Railroad,  the  Chicago  and  Eastern  Illinois 
Railroad,  and  the  Belt  Line  Railway. 
There  is  no  point  outside  of 
the  city  of  Chicago  in  Cook  County 
having  so  many  railroad  connections  as 
this  tract  of  land.  The  slip  for  the  Calumet 
Iron  and  Steel  Company  is  made  from  the 
river,  extending  west  to  Torrence  avenue. 
At  this  point,  100  feet  wide  of  the  sub- 
division is  held  in  reserve  for  a  ship  canal 
extending  west  from  Torrence  avenue  across 
the  subdivision  nearly  to  Lake  Calumet.  Mr. 
D wight  F.  Cameron,  No.  220  First  National 
Bank  Building,  who  has  the  property  in 
charge,  has  been  making  efforts  to  get  a  ship 
canal  between  Lake  Calumet  and  Calumet 
River  at  this  point,  being  the  shortest  dis- 
tance between  the  two  bodies  of  water.  The 
effect  of  a  canal  at  that  r>oint  would  not  only 
afford  a  short  outlet  from  Lake  Calumet,  but 
it  would  drain  and  redeem  several  thousand 
acres  of  land  which  is  now  low  and  unfit  for 
occupation.  Another  great  benefit  aris- 
ing from  this  canal  would  be 
that  in  the  time  of  spring 
freshets  it  would  afford  a  speedy  outlet  for 
the  waters  of  Lake  Calumet.  At  present  the 
waters  of  that  lake  have  to  run  south  its  full 
length  to  its  mouth,  and  then  run  straight 
north — a  distance  of  nearly  six  miles.  Those 
who  best  understand  the  topography  of  the 
country  regard  the  canal  as  an  absolute  ne- 
cessity. With  a  canal  through  this  tract  of 
land,  it  would  be  difficult  to  point  out  a  more 
favorable  place  for  manufacturers,  where  all 
the  railroad  facilities  above  named  are  pres- 
ent in  connection  with  water  transportation 
to  Lake  Michigan.  A  real-estate  operator 
not  interested  in  the  property,  and  whose 
opinion  is  entitled  to  consideration, 


recently  remarked  that  it  had  the  bright- 
est future  of  any  tract  of  land  he 
knew  anything  about  The  construction 
of  the  canal  would  seem  an  improve- 
ment of  the  near  future.  It  would  make  of 
Lake  Calumet,  with  slight  dredging,  a  harbor 
of  refuge  for  vessels,  and  when  once  com- 
pleted would  probably  be  accepted  by  the 
government  as  part  of  the  navigable  waters 
in  that  vicinity.  There  are  different  agents 
of  different  manufacturing  establishments 
looking  at  this  property  with  a  view  of  loca- 
ting there.  In  close  proximity  to  this  subdi- 
vision is  the  grand  system  of  docks  of  the 
South  Chicago  Dock  Company.  Nearly  $500.- 
000  has  been  spent  in  making  docks,  and  it 
will  soon  be  teeming  with  lumber  yards. 
The  Calumet  and  Chicago  Canal  and  Dock 
Company  own  a  large  tract  immediately 
northwest  of  this  land.  The  peculiar  situa- 
tion of  Cummings,  situated  as  it  is  about 
midway  between  the  mouth  of  the  Calumet 
River  at  South  Chicago  and  the  plant  of  the 
Rolling  Stock  Company  at  the  Forks,  makes 
it,  as  it  were,  right  in  the  highw  ay  of  im- 
provements. 

HAVENS  WOOD. 

A  BEAUTIFUL  VILLAGE. 

The  growth  of  no  suburb  on  the  imme- 
diate rim  of  the  city  has  been  more  re- 
markable than  this  beautiful  village  just 
over  the  border  to  the  northward.  Houses 
have  sprung  up  of  tasteful  architecture 
the  past  season,  and  in  such  numbers 
as  to  show  that  a  pleasant  suburban  home 
in  a  choice  neighborhood  and  among 
a  people  notably  refined  and  hospitable  is  an 
ambition  rapidly  developing  in  this  city.  The 
resident  alights  at  the  pretty  depot  within 
twenty  minutes  of  taking  the  Northwestern 
train — any  one  of  scores  a  day — a  measure  of 
accessibility  that  must  continue  to  make  the 
forture  of  Ravenswood  in  a  rushing  commu- 
nity where  time  is  money  and  life.  The 
public  improvements  correspond  with  the 
exceptionally  neat  residences,  the  building 
record  of  the  year  including  two  additional 
handsome  churches.  Here,  too,  is  located 
the  High  School  of  Lake  View.  It  is  not 
strange  with  such  advantages  that  Ravens- 
wood  is  attracting  the  very  best  people  as 
residents  and  that  her  borders  are  so  rapidly 
extending.  The  only  wonder  is  that  landed 
interests,  comprising  some  of  the  best  in  the 
village,  may  still  be  obtained  at  such  low 
figures. 

WOODLATVN. 

BETWEEN  TWO  PABKS. 

Only  thirty-four  minutes  out  on  the  Illi- 
nois Central,  with  its  multiplied  trains  a  day, 
Woodlawn  is  at  least  convenient,  much  more 
so  than  the  majority  of  city  homes.  It  is 
very  pleasantly  situated  between  two  parks, 
or,  rather,  the  two  divisions  of  South  Park, 
and  when  this  splendid  public  improvement 
is  finished  according  to  plans  already  an- 
nounced, the  prettiest  part  of  it  will  directiy 
face  Woodlawn.  This  is  known  as 
"Chicago's  most  promising  suburb,"  and 
the  claim  would  seem  a  just  one,  since  it 
has  more  than  doubled  in  population  the  past 
year,  and  the  improvements  are  all  first- 
class,  the  law  of  the  attraction  of  similars 
explaining  the  many  arrivals  of  young  busi- 
ness men  with  the  disposition  and  ability  to 
build  nice  residences.  Literary  and  social 


194 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTUBT. 


features  are  not  the  least  characteristic  of 
the  suburb.  A  purchaser  receives  especially 
easy  terras,  as  a  rule  simply  the  advance  in 
down  payment  of  a  year's  rent  on  the  basis 
of  town  charges,  and  then  all  his  payment  is 
annual  rent,  and  BO  he  just  about  purchases 
a  home  with  lovely  surrounding's  for  what 
he  would  waste  away  by  living  in  the  city. 
Mr.  F.  W.  Green,  of  42  Borden  Block,  Dear- 
born and  Randolph  streets,  makes  a  specialty 
of  Woodlawn  property,  and  his  numerous 
patrons  attest  both  the  honorable  dealing  of 
the  courteous  broker  ana  the  substantial 
bargains  offered, 

HAMMOND. 

A  YOUNG    PITTSBUKQ. 

This  young  manufacturing  suburb,  with  a 
population  of  some  2,500,  and  situated  on 
the  Grand  Calumet  River  at  the  State  line, 
has  just  crowned  its  astonishing  three  years 
growth  by  a  city  charter.  That  the  new  dig- 
nity is  authorized  is  shown  by  the  array  of 
chemical  works,  glove  factory,  steel  spring 
•works,  siruo  factory,  vinegar  works,  slaugh- 
ter-house, lumber  and  coal  yards,  all  estab- 
lished and  affording  ample  employment  in 
railroad  facilities  Hammond  is  Chicago's  port 
ef  entry,  as  it  were,  for  the  iron  ships  of 
commerce  The  long  drawn  fleets  sail  in 
over  the  Western  Indiana,  the  Chicago  and 
Atlantic,  the  Louisville.  New  Albany  and  Chi- 
cago, the  Nickel-plate,  the  Michigan  Central, 
and  no  less  than  three  other  railroads  are 
contemplating  entering  Chicago  at  this  point, 
multiplying  still  more  the  number  of  daily 
trains  each  way  and  the  transfer  facilities, 
roundhouses,  and  car  shops.  With  transporta- 
tion facilities  by  land,  thus  uniquely  supple- 
menting its  dock  privileges  so  convenient  to 
the  great  lakes,  Hammond  has  rightly  won 
its  favorite  rank  with  manufacturers,  and 
the  time  is  hastening  when  the  banks  of  the 
river  for  miles  east  of  Hammond  will  bristle 
with  the  chimneys  of  the  manufacturers. 
The  low  taxes  will  speed  the  day  and  so  will 
the  low  prices  at  which  all  the  available 
river  frontage  is  being  rapidly  taken  up  by 
capitalists.  Near  by  are  rising  the  grea't 
works  of  the  United  States  Rolling  Stock 
Company,  and  there  is  assurance  that  other 
extensive  enterprises  comternplate  immedi- 
ate settlement.  Back  from  the  river  is  the 
very  eligible  residence  section.  Mr.  James  N. 
Young.  97  Dearborn  street,  is  intimately 
identified  with  the  landed  interests  and 
success  of  the  suburb. 

CHICAGO    1.AWN. 

NEAT   HOUSES,    LOTS   FBEE. 

The  past  year  this  thriving  suburb  in- 
creased 50  per  cent  in  the  number  of  its  in- 
habitants and  its  neat  and  tasteful  resi- 
dences. Chicago  Lawn  is  two  and  a  half 
miles  from  the  city  limits  on  the  Chicago  and 
Grand  Trunk  Road,  and  is  not  thirty  minutes' 
ride  from  the  down-town  depot,  a  fact 
which  stamps  it  as  more  accessible  than  large 
portions  of  the  city.  Fare  is  only  6  cents. 
The  suburb  is  a  nice  clean  place,  its  south- 


westerly situation  exempting  it  from  city 
currents  of  air.  Its  public  school-house  is  a 
gem  of  architecture;  there  is  a  handsome 
station  house,  and  the  streets  are  excellently 
improved  and  sidewalk^d.  The  popular  pro"- 
prietor  of  the  town,  Mr.  John  F.  Eberhart, 
Room  81,  161  LaSalle  street,  has  long  been 
identified  with  the  landed  and  educational  in- 
terests of  the  city,  an  experience  he  has 
utilized  for  the  advancement  of  this  charm- 
ing suburb.  The  residents  are  Americans, 
and  the  amenities  of  literature  and  music 
are  cultivated  by  societies  wnich  contribute 
not  a  little  to  good  neighborship.  So  uni- 
formly neat  and  tasteful  are  the  houses 
that  it  is  difficult  to  believe  they  range  in 
cost  from  $5,000  down  to  as  low  as  $1.200, 
and  with  a  lot  thrown  in  to  boot.  This  gift 
of  land  is  made  to  every  one  who  puts  up  a 
fair  house;  toothers  the  price  of  lots  being 
$200. 

FERNWOOD. 

A  BABY  JUMBO. 

Chicago's  baby  Jumbo  would  appear  to  be 
this  large-limbed  young  suburb  which  first 
saw  the  light  only  last  May.  In  a  span  of  life 
numbered  by  months  a  score  of  neat  houses 
have  dotted  the  virgin  plateau,  and  an  Ameri- 
can settlement  of  as  desirable  people  as  could 
be  wished  now  overlooks  Englewood,  Grand 
Crossing,  and  Pullman,  the  latter  only  a  mile 
and  a  half  distant.  Fernwood  is  eleven 
miles  due  south  of  the  metropolis,  and  re- 
joices in  three  railroads — the  Rock  Island,  the 
Panhandle,  and  the  Eastern  Illinois.  Trains 
even  more  frequent  than  the  many  which 
now  serve  the  village  are  to  be  put  on,  while 
commutation  tickets  cost  only  $5. 50  a  month 
or  ten  rides  for  $1.20.  In  other  respects, 
too,  the  inducements  to  buy  a  home  here  are 
overwhelming.  It  takes  but  $100  paid  down, 
and  after  that  monthly  installments,  some  as 
low  as  $15,  in  whole  cost  of  a  wide  lot  in 
charming  and  healthful  surroundings,  and 
with  a  gem  of  a  house  reaching  only  from 
$1,100  to  $1,400.  The  Superintendent  of 
Improvements  is  S.  Montgomery  Smith, 
while  the  humanitarian  erodf  ather  and  patron 
of  these  homes  for  the  many  is  Mr.  E.  L.  Gil- 
lette, Fernwood's  headquarters  being  room 
9,  142  Dearborn  street.  A  call  there  will 
meet  the  most  favorable  anticipations,  while 
a  run  down  to  Fernwood  itself  will  discover 
another  "Auburn,  loveliest  village  of  the 
plain."  A  street  car  company  has  been  or- 
ganized to  run  to  Pullman  and  South  Chi- 
cago, and  Fernwood  must  grow  more  and 
more  in  favor  and  convenience  as  a  desirable 
residence. 

KENSINGTON. 

HOMIS    ON    T.TTRirttAT,  TEBM8. 

This  town  is  favorably  located  at  the  junc- 
tion of  three  railroads,  and  adjoins  Pullman 
on  two  sides.  The  business  and  resident  pop- 
ulation find  liberal  and  constant  support 
from  the  Pullman  Car  Works  and  Foundry, 
and  the  other  extensive  industries  that  sur- 
round the  town,  while  the  general  health  of 
the  people  is  universally  good.  CL  B.  Sa-w 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


yer,  127  Dearborn  street,  Chicago,  is  largely 
interested  in  property  here,  which  is  offered 
upon  liberal  terms. 

AN  IMPORTANT  DISCOVERY. 

A.  NEW  FUEL. 

A  company  with  a  capital  o.  $1,000,000 
has  recently  been  incorporated  for  the  pur- 
pose of  working-  and  developing  an  invention 
•which  will  doubtless  prove  to  be  among  the 
most  important  of  any  brought  out  in  this 
inventive  age.  Beference  is  made  to  the 
process  of  vaporizing  crude  petroleum  and 
nsing  the  resulting  vapor  as  a  fuel,  after  the 
method  as  discovered  by  Mr.  O.  D.  Orvis.  It 
has  already  been  demonstrated  to  be  of  far 
greater  value  than  was  ever  hoped  for  or  ex- 
pected of  by  the  inventor.  This  discovery  of 
Mr.  Orvis  is  something  new  in  practical  «ci- 
ence,  and,  from  the  practical  uses  to  which 
It  has  already  been  put,  certainly  seems 
destined  to  create  a  revolution  in  the  use  of 
fuel  for  steam  purposes,  from  the  fact  that 
a  superior  quality  of  heat  is  produced  at  a 
reduced  cost.  It  has  been  proven  in  addi- 
tion that  it  prod  urea  the  purest  and  most  in- 


tense heat  known,  as  well.  From  these  facts 
it  can  be  readily  seen  that  the  process  must 
be  invaluable  for  ail  kinds  of  smelting  and 
puddling-  furnaces,  as  a  much  better  quality 
of  iron  is  produced  than  can  possibly  be 
made  by  the  old  process.  Glass  manufactur- 
ers will'be  able  to  make  a  superior  quality 
of  their  product,  equal  too,  if  not  superior, 
to  that  heretofore  so  largely  imported  from 
foreign  countries.  This  process  of  Mr.  Orvis' 
has  the  great  merit  of  simplicity,  and  can  be 
easily  applied  to  locomotives.'  tugs,  steam- 
ships, and  stationary  boiler  furnaces  of  every 
description,  and  while  in  operation  the  chim- 
ney is  absolutely  smokeless. 

There  seems  to  be  no  limit  to  the  variety 
of  industries  to  which  this  invention  caa  be 
applied,  and  with  great,  lasting  benefit  The 
iron  and  glass  industries,  however,  will 
doubtless  receive  the  greatest  financial  bene- 
fit. That  which  the  general  public  are  most 
interested  in  lies  in  the  fact  that  by  this  new 
process  of  generating  steam  the  smoke  prob- 
lem is  solved.  As  one  of  our  leading  con- 
temporaries says  in  a  recent  issue:  "When 
this  new  company  is  able  to  rree  Chicago 
from  the  pall  of  smoke  which  hangs  over  the 
city,  and  our  railroads  run  smokeless  engines 
free  from  soot,  cinders,  and  noxious  gases, 
then  humanity  will  be  benefited,  and  the  Or- 
TIS  Smokeless  Hydro-carbon  Furnace  Com- 
pany will  be  styled  a»  public  benefactors." 


toKESSUTFORFOOD 

ABSOLUTELY  PURE. 


The  most  prominent  Manufacturing  Establishment  of  Elkhart,  Ind.,  Is  the  Muzzy  Starch 
Works,  making  a  Specialty  of  Muzzy 's  Corn  and  Sun  Glass  Starch,  and  that  of  "BUT  ONE 
QUALITY.  THE  BEST."  They  have'  a  large  and  growing  trade,  having  increased  their 
works  the  past  season,  giving  them  capac.ty  for  ten  million  pounds  per  annum,  which  is 
sold  by  nearly  all  of  the  wholesale  and  retail  grocers  of  Chicago  and  the  Middle  and  Western 
States. 


OHAPTEK  XVL 


FOR  SPECULATORS. 

METROPOLITAN  GRAIN  AND  STOCK  EX- 
CHANGE. 

The  speculative  business  of  Chicago,  which 
can  hardly  be  computed  by  figures,  is  di- 
vided, rather  through  the  result  of  caprice 
than  upon  any  business  principle  which  can 
be  denned,  between  the  operators  on  the 
regular  Board  of  Trade,  the  Open  Board,  and 
the  exchanges  which  hire  the  so-ealled 
"Board  of  Trade  alley."  These  "ex- 
changes" are  not  smiled  upon  as  a 
rule  by  the  Board  of  Trade  gentle- 
men, perhaps  because  the  great 
corporation  which  has  its  headquarters  in  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce  is  rather  anxious  to 
entirely  control  all  the  vast  volume  of  traffic 
in  grain  and  provisions,  either  for  present 
or  future  delivery,  which  flows  into  this 
wonderful  mart,  and  possibly  because  mod  - 
ern  speculation  does  not  fittingly  reverence 
the  great  corporation,  and  propose  to  seek  a 
market  wherein  it  can  be  most  advantageously 
found. 

The  Metropolitan  Exchange  claims  to 
be  able  to  fill  whatever  bill  the  specu- 
latively  inclined  may  call  for  at  a  less 
than  a  reasonable  charge,  and  with  a  posi- 
tive assurance,  backed  by  a  legal  guarantee, 
that  they  will  perform  what  they  promise. 
Through  their  good  offices  people  can  readily 
avail  themselves  of  the  wonderful  oppor- 
tunities which  Chicago  offers  for  money- 
making  by  speculation,  without  any  unplea's- 
ant  forebodings  that  good  money  is  to  be 
sent  in  pursuit  of  bad,  after  the  former  has 
gone  hopelessly  astray. 

The  Metropolitan  Exchange,  the  subject  of 
this  brief  notice — and  a  trade  review  notice  in 
a  leading  Chicago  daily  must  ot  necessity  be 
brief — was  incorporated  and  organized  under 
the  strict  statutes  of  the  State  of  Illinois, 
and  can  boast  of  an  entirely  le- 
gal existence.  It  possesses  a  paid-up 
capital  of  $100,000  and  an  un- 
blemished financial  reputation.  That  it  is 
really  above  reproach  is  evidenced  by  the 
fact  that  the  First  National  Bank  of  Chicago, 
Preston  &  Co. ,  bankers,  of  Detroit,  Mich. ,  and 
the  Chatham  Street  National  Bank  of  New 


York  City,  all  permit  their  names  to  appear 
upon  the  list  of  references  which  is  appended 
to  its  announcements.  This  Exchange  is  the 
Chicago  trading  place  for  the  million,  the 
bazar  where  the  commodities  of  a  dis- 
trict of  country  larger  than  some  empires 
which  have  cut  a  figure  in  history  are 
daily  vended  for  the  benefit  of  the  general 
public,  not  for  a  favored  few. 

It  is  not  quite  easy  to  explain  how  this 
largest  concern  of  the  kind  in  Chicago, 
probably  in  the  world,  can  offer  induce- 
ments to  customers  which  the  regular  or 
the  Open  Boards  of  Trade  would  find  it 
difficult,  if  not  impossible  to  duplicate,  nor 
could  an  explanation  be  given  in  the  space 
now  at  the  writer's  disposal  Some  sug- 
gestions can,  however,  be  made  whicn  must 
pass  for  what  they  are  worth.  In  the  first 
place,  a  membership  on  the  regular,  the 
Open,  or  the  Call  Boards  of  Chicago  is  an 
expensive  luxury  without  which  a  person 
cannot  do  business,  except  through  a  broker 
in  connection  with  those  corporations.  The 
operator  who  has  to  pay  a  high  figure  for  the 
privilege  of  dealing  can  hardly  (other 
things  being  equal)  compete  with  the  man 
who,  with  the  best  or  very  nearly  the  best 
facilities  for  speculative  dealing  at  his  dis- 
posal, has  nothing  or  next  to  nothing  to  pav 
for  the  right  to  exercise  his  skill,  abi;  ty, 
and  knowledge  of  the  market  for  the  benefit 
of  himself  or  his  customers.  It  must 
not  be  supposed  because  these  com- 
parisons and  suggestions  are  made 
that  there  is  any  disposition  on  the 
part  of  the  writer  to  underrate  the  impor- 
tance of  the  great  mercantile  organizations  of 
Chicago,  to  whose  wisdom,  liberality,  and 
enterprise  the  Garden  City  owes  such  an 
enormous  debt,  but  it  is  nevertheless  true 
that  the  Board  of  Trade  and  its  auxiliaries, 
while  possessed  of  almost  boundless  re- 
sources and  a  kind  of  knowledge  which  can 
be  coined  into  current  money,  does  not,  be- 
cause it  cannot  from  the  nature  of  things 
afford  to  the  million  an  opportunity  to  do 
pro  rata  what  those  who  have  millions  are 
continually  doing,  and  accumulating  other 
millions  by  their  transactions.  The  Metro- 
politan Exchange  makes  an  especial  point  of 
possessing  all  needful  business  facilities  for 
operating"  in  grain,  seeds,  and  provisions,  and 
stocks  in  large  and  small  quantities.  It  has 
direct  telegraphic  communication  with  all 
the  leading  business  centers,  and  the  prin- 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST  HALF  CENTURY. 


197 


ciples  upon  which  it  trades,  and  the  option 
deals,  which  form  such  a  prominent  feature 
of  its  business,  are  substantially  the  same  as 
those  with  which  any  regular  Board  of  Trade 
speculator  is  familiar.  There  is  this  impor- 
tant modification,  however,  of  Board  of 
Trade  rules  at  the  Metropolitan  Ex- 
change: The  trader  at  the  latter  place 
is  only  responsible  for  the  amount  of  margin 
hazarded  on  each  deal,  and  those  who  desire 
to  limit  their  losses  to  a  certain  sum  will  in 
all  instances  be  guaranteed  against  any  loss 
in  excess  of  that  amount.  This  distinctive 
characteristic  manner  of  trading  on  the  Ex- 
change deprives  speculative  business  of  its 
most  objectionable  and  dangerous  element. 
The  "Metropolitan"  is  especially  desirous  of 
securing  in  every  city,  village,  hamlet,  and 
farm  which  contribute  but  a  drop  of  the  life- 
blood  of  trade  to  Chicago — the  commercial 
heart  of  the  civilized  world — a  live  man  to  act 
as  broker  for  his  benefit  and  its  own.  For  the 
benefit  of  this  class  it  has  lately  made  the 
following  suggestions  and  statements  in  a 
circular  letter: 

You  will  please  note  our  references  here- 
with. With  our  capital  and  standing,  direct 
telegraphic  communication  from  our  office 
to  all  points,  enabling  us  to  give  immediate 
and  quick  replies  to  all  messages,  and  by  giv- 
ing each  and  all  orders  our  personal  atten- 
tion, our  facilities  for  handling  out-of-town 
orders  cannot  be  equaled. 

The  principle  of  trading  and  the  options 
dealt  in  are  the  same  as  on  the  regular  Board 
of  Trade,  with  the  exception  that  the  trader 
is  only  liable  for  the  amount  of  margin  placed 
on  each  deal.  Those  who  desire  to  limit 
their  losses  to  a  certain  amount  are  guaran- 
anteed  against  further  loss  by  us,  and  are 
not  subject  to  the  sweeping  changes  of  a 
wild  or  cornered  market,  with  the  liability  of 
having  their  commission  merchants  draw  on 
them  for  an  amount  that  they  had  supposed 
there  was  no  possibility  of  losing.  We  more 
especially  call  the  attention  of  brokers  send- 
ing orders  to  the  regular  board  on  commis- 
sion or  salary  to  our  system;  to  those  we 
offer  superior  advantages.  We  will  allow 
much  better  terms,  with  no  liability  to  them, 
than  any  other  houses.  Please  note  and 
write  to  our  references. 

THE  PUBLIC  GRAIN  AND  STOCK  EX  • 
CHANGE 

was  organized  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of 
Illinois  in  the  year  1880,  for  the  purpose  of 
affording  the  best  and  most  reliable  facilities 
for  the  purchase  and  sale  of  grain,  provis- 
ions, and  stocks  for  immediate  or  future  de- 
livery. 

Chicago  has  been  known  for  years  as  the 
sepculative  center  of  the  world.  It  is  the 
vast  drawing  depot  into  which  is  gathered 
the  grain  and  meat  products  of  the  great 
American  Northwest,  and  from  hence  these 
two  essentials  of  living  are  distributed,  not 
only  to  the  cities  of  this  continent  but  to  the 
leading  capitals  of  Europe  also. 

The  advantage  which  this  Exchange  offers 


for  trading,  either  in  large  or  small  quantities, 
may  be  briefly  enumerated  as  follows: 

It  has  special  wires  from  its  office  to  all 
parts  of  the  country,  both  East  and  West,  and 
are  connected  with  first-class  correspondents 
in  all  large  cities,  who  have  formerly  been 
doing  business  through  or  with  the  Board 
of  Trade,  and  who  now  represent  the 
Public  Grain  and  Stock  Exchange,  recog- 
nizing their  superior  facilities  for  doing  bus'i- 
ness. 

With  these  correspondents  a  dealer  can  buy 
or  sell  as  low  as  1,000  bushels  of  grain,  fifty 
barrels  of  pork,  fifty  tierces  of  lard,  and 
twenty-five  shares  of  stock,  or  larger  quan- 
tities if  desired,  on  margins  as  low  as  1  cent 
a  bushel  on  grain,  25  cents  a  barrel  on  pork, 
8  cents  a  tierce  on  lard,  and  $1  per  share  on 
stocks,  and  he  is  only  responsible  for  the 
amount  of  money  which  he  may  order  placed 
Upon  a  trade,  and  cannot  lose  beyond  that 
amount,  and  while  the  market  goes  his  way 
his  profits  are  unlimited.  He  can  do  his  busi  - 
ness  with  the  Public  Grain  and  Stock  Ex- 
change at  the  same  commission  and  with  no 
expense  for  telegraphing,  or,  in  other  words, 
can  trade  just  the  same  as  though  he  was  on 
the  Board  of  Trade  in  person.  If  he  places 
his  business  with  a  broker  on  the  Board  of 
Trade,  in  the  first  place  he  will  be  obliged  to 
put  up  five  cents  a  bushel  on  grain,  and  the 
same  proportion  on  provisions  and  stocks, 
and  will  be  liable  for  additional  margins 
wherever  the  market  goes.  He  also  cannot 
purchase  less  than  5,000  bushels  of  grain,  or 
250  packages  of  pork,  that  being  the  small- 
est quantities  dealt  in  on  the  board. 

The  customer  is  always  able  to  get  more 
satisfactory  prices  in  trading  with  this  Ex- 
change, for  the  reason  that  the  order  is  ex- 
ecuted the  moment  it  is  received  in  our  office, 
providing  it  is  not  limited,  and  then  it  is  filled 
providing  the  price  is  reached. 


THE  B1RDSELL 


SPRING     YAGONS. 


BIRDSELL  MANUFACTURING  COMP'Y 

SOUTH  B^JfD,  ItfD. 


198 


CHICAGO'S  FIRST   HALF  CENTURY 


A  NOTABLE   PIONEER    HOUSE. 

The  oldest  ship-chandlery  house  in  Chicago 
and  the  one  best  known  to  the  marine  service 
of  our  great  lakes  was  founded  in  1840  by 
George  A.  Robb,  was  succeeded  in  1845  by 
Payson  &  Robb,  and  then  in  1850  by  Hub- 
bard  &  Robb.  George  A.  Robb  died  in  1857  in 
Havana,  Cuba,  and  the  name  of  the  firm  was 
changed  to  Gilbert  Hubbard  &  Co. ,  continu- 
ing under  that  name  twenty-five  years.  Gil- 
bert Hubbard  died  in  May.  1881.  Jan.  1, 
1882.  the  firm  was  changed  to  its  present 
name  of  George  B.  Carpenter  &  Co.  For  a 
whole  generation  it  has  been  a  representa- 
tive house,  distinguished  for  enterprise,  for 
integrity,  for  financial  responsibility,  and  for 
doing  its  full  share  in  building  up  Chicago 
and  in  promoting  the  welfare  of  its  citizens. 

GEORGE  B.    CAKPENTEB   &   CO., 

as  successors  to  Gilbert  Hubbard  &  Co. ,  are  at 
present  the  largest  house,  and  are  enjoying1  a 
larger  business  in  their  line  than  any  other 
house  in  this  market  Their  stock  includes 
complete  lines  of  cordage,  cotton  duck, 
tackle-blocks,  twines  of  all  kinds  for  any  and 
all  uses,  among  which  may  be  especially 
mentioned  twines  and  cords  for  horse-nets 
and  hammocks,  for  grain-binding  harvesters, 
gilling  and  seine  twines  for  fishermen's  use, 
etc. ;  asbestos  materials  of  all  kinds,  asbestos 
paints,  and  asbestos  roofings,  packings,  cot- 
ton waste,  lubricating  oils,  and  a  general  line 
of  mill  and  railway  supplies.  In  manu- 


factured goods  they  deal  extensively  in  tents 
wagon-covers,  awnings,  and  anything  that 
can  be  made  of,  or  furnished  with,  cotton 
duck.  As  buyers  from,  and  selling  agents 
for,  the  manufacturers  direct  in  their  several 
lines,  this  linn  are  in  a  position  to  make 
prices  at  all  times  in  competition  with  the 
lowest.  Illustrated  catalogues  and  price-lists 
are  mailed  free  upon  application. 

TELE    POPULAR     NEW     PEORIA    HOUSE. 

Travelers  visiting  the  "Second  City"  will 
find  it  decidedly  to  their  advantage  to  make 
their  headquarters  at  the  popular  new  Peoria 
House,  upon  which  $30,000  has  recently 
been  expended  in  improvements.  This  is 
one  of  the  best  managed  hotels  in  the  West, 
and  one  that  charges  reasonable  rates.  '  All 
the  modern  improvements  for  the  comfort 
and  convenience  of  guests  are  employed, 
and  no  hostelry  in  Peoria  affords  better  fa- 
cilities for  reaching  all  parts  of  the  city — be- 
ing located  just  opposite  the  Court  House, 
and  on  the  street  railway  line  that  leads  to 
all  the  large  manufacturing  institutions.  The 
tables  are  as  well  supplied  as  the  best  Chi- 
cago hotels,  and  in  other  respects  the  new 
Peoria  Hotel  equals  its  most  pretentious  ri- 
vals in  the  great  city  on  the  lake.  Messrs. 
J.  S.  Clarke  &  Son,  the  proprietors,  are  vet- 
ejans  in  the  business,  and  personally  look 
after  their  patrons,  with  whom  the  Peoria 
HOUM  is  always  well  filled. 


GEO.  E.  BROWN  &  CO., 


AURORA,  Kane  County,  HI., 


IMPORTERS  AJfD  BREEDERS. 


Cleveland  Bays, 
English  Draft, 


Clydesdale  Horses, 

ISO 

STALLIONS  ANN  MABES 

ON  HAND. 


A  larpe  importation  just 
received  and  others  to  fol- 
low, carefully  selected  from 
the  best  studs  in  Enprixnd. 
Mention  The  Inter  Oceae. 


HOLSTEM 

WE  HAVE  THE 

CHAMPION  HERD, 

Hare  >Terer  Been    Beate 
in  Ten  Years  at  Lead- 
ing Fairs  in  the 
West. 


Our  Holsteins  are  se- 
lected personally  from  the 
most  celebrated  herds  of 
deep  milkers  in  Holland. 
All  ages,  male  or  femalf, 
on  hand.  Send  for  our  Il- 
lustrated Catalogue,  and 
-  mention  The  Inter  Ocean. 


i^v^v^^  — — JUNK    SO, 

Capitalized,  including  bonded   debt,  not  to  exceed  $3G,OOO  per   mile 
double  track,  $2O,OOO  single  track. 

Of  interest  to  the  Capitalist,  Merest,  Mechanic,  Farmer  Clerk    and  Day-Laborer. 
___Somewhat  of  an  Innovation  on  the  Old  Plan  of  Building  Railroads. 

FACE  VALUE  OF  A  SHARE  OF  STOCK  IS  $5O. 

only  through 


S3S.T  ^ 

to  speak,  until  paid  out  by  their  loeal  trea,  ^.a^c°rr<i1°!:vd'sa:icl  Treasurer,  and  will  be  orcanized  by 
Each  Board  will  have  a  President,  Vice  President  1  ^^f^JSon  o*  FHTB  or  more  citizens  who  have 
the  President  of  the  road  or  his  special  deputies  upon  ^^ition  or  *  ivji  ^or  m  instaUment 

subscribed   lor  and  paid  first  installment  on  10  0  or  £°™  snw^>  b°e\o  8el  all  stocfcs  offered  in 

•nd  carry  on  the  wort  until  the  system  is  completed. 

BY    THE    I>EOI>L,K    ANI>    FOR    THE    PEOPLE. 


i,      .r..    ,  e»hr.d  - 


hy  Stockholders  of  This  Company  Will  Be  Protected 
in  Their  Inyestment. 

First-The  principles  are  extended  alike  to  ail-to  the  people  ol  the  natlon-and  $2.50  secur.s  a 

^-^^^Sg^^SK«^«« 

^^^ 


debt.  .re  to 


For  lull  information  address 

THE  PEOPLE'S  RAILWAY  COMP'Y  OF  AMERICA, 


NEW  YOBK  CITY,  >'.  Y. 


CHICAGO,  ILL.,         I  SAN  FBANCISCO,  CAL., 

328  Montgomery  St. 


DETROIT,  MICH., 

17  Telegraph  Block. 


EM!  KENNEDY,  Pres't. 


THE  MINING  INDUSTRY 


H     PROMOTED     BY 


BENJAMIN  W.  GOODHUE  &  CO., 


This  firm  have  made  a  specialty  of  promoting  mining  interests  by  the  sale  of  properties  and  the 
organization  of  companies,  and  developing  their  own  properties.  They  have  a  large  and  influential 
connection,  and  have  been  very  successful  in  advancing  the  mining  interests  in  an  equitable  and  le- 
gitimate manner,  giving  satisfaction  to  all  with  whom  they  have  had  dealings.  Messrs,  Goodhue  & 
Co.  have  fine  properties  for  sale  in  different  States  and  Territories,  and  invite  investigation. 

Prominent  among  the  many  interests  they  have  promoted  may  be  mentioned  the  NEVADA  MINING 
AND  MILLING  COMPANY,  OF  CHICAGO.  This  company  was  organized  under  the  la-w-s  of  the 
State  of  Illinois  about  three  years  ago,  with  a  capital  of  $250,000,  limited — the  stock  fully  paid 
and  non-assessable.  The  efforts  of  the  company,  from  its  organization  up  to  the  present  time,  have 
been  devoted  to  th«  acquisition  of  mining  properties,  and  in  this  it  has  been  very  successful. 

The  company  is  free  from  all  debts  or  incumbrances  of  any  kind.  The  stock  is  held  by  a  few  in- 
dividuals, and,  consequently,  there  is  none  on  the  market.  The  purpose  of  the  managers  is  evidently 
to  prove  that  mining,  when  conducted  like  any  other  legitimate  business,  can  be  made  interesting  and 
profitable,  therefore  they  have  been  slow  and  cautious  in  every  movement,  with  a  firm  determination 
to  make  no  mistakes,  and  it  pleases  us  to  say  in  their  behalf  that,  thus  far,  none  have  been  made. 

THE  HUMBOLDT  NICKEL  AND  COPPEE  MINING  COMPANY 

Has  twelve  nickel  and  copper  properties,  all  located  in  Churchill  and  Humboldt  Counties,  Nevada. 
The  ledges  are  very  large,  and  the  Monarch  and  British  Queen  Mines  are  the  most  remarkable  de- 
posits of  nickel  known  to  have  been  discovered.  The  ledges  are  four  hundred  feet  wide,  three  thou- 
sand feet  long,  and  average  from  39  per  cent  up  as  high  as  65  per  cent  nickel. 

The  Lake  Erie  Copper  is  blue  carbonate  of  copper,  opened  by  a  tunnel;  ledge  fifteen  feet  wide; 
averages  20  per  cent  metal. 

The  Lake  Huron  Copper  is  carbonate  and  array  copper. 

The  Lake  Champlain  Copper  is  opened  well  with  tunnels,  and  ready  to  stope  out;  ore  averages  30 
per  cent  copper. 

The  Lake  Superior  Copper  is  a  large  chimney  of  ore.  upward  of  three  hundred  feet  in  diameter, 
opened  by  a  sixty-feet  shaft. 

There  is  over  $6,000  worth  of  work  already  done  on  these  properties,  and  as  soon  as  the  40-ton 
smelter  (for  which  the  company  has  negotiated)  arrives  the  work  of  reducing  the  ores  may  at  once 
begin. 

The  Electric  Light  No.  1,  Arctic  Mines,  Electric  Light  No.  2,  yield  20  per  cent  copper. 

The  Himlar  and  Empress  of  India  Mines  carry  a  large  percentage  of  Nickel  and  cobalt. 

The  following  well-known  gentlemen  are  the  officers:  Joseph  Schroeder,  President;  George  Love- 
lock, Vice  President ;  N.  Whitman,  Secretary ;  F.  D.  Gray,  Treasurer. 

THE  MONTEZUMA  CONSOLIDATED  MINING  COMPANY,  OF  NEVADA, 

Was  incorporated  under  the  Illinois  State  laws,  Nov.  13,  1882.  The  property  of  this  company  is  sit- 
uated in  Larrabee  Mining  District,  Elko  County,  Nevada,  forty-five  miles  south  of  the  Central  Pacific 
.Railroad,  twelve  miles  east  of  the  Eureka  and  Palisade  Railway,  with  good  wagon  roads  direct  to  the 
mines  from  Blackburn  or  Box  Spring  stations  on  the  E.  and  P.  Railway. 

These  mines  join  a  property  of  the  Nevada  Mining  and  Milling  Company,  and  are  convenient  to 
railroad  communication.  They  are  located  on  a  small  mountain  which  is  covered  with  abundance 
of  timber,  another  important  advantage  for  mining  purposes. 

SCHROEDER  MINING  DISTRICT. 

In  this  district  Mr.   Goodhue  and  his  associates  own  eight  very  valuable  properties.    The  ore 
averages  from  $30  to  $105  per  ton  in  gold  and  silver,  and  25  per  cent  lead.     Also  valuable  copper 
mines,  from  which  there  have  been  several  car  loads  shipped  to  the  smelting  worKs  of  Lamb,  Goodhue 
&  Co.    The  ores  shipped  to  this  tirm  are  the  first  shipped  in  bulk  from  Nevada  to  Chicago. 
GOODHUE  &  SCHROEDER  SMELTING  WORKS,  PALISADE,  NEVADA. 

Located  at  the  junction  of  the  Central  Pacific  and  Eureka  and  Palisade  Railroads.  The  location 
is  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  field  of  rich  gold  and  silver  ores.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  members 
of  this  firm  own  a  large  number  of  rich  properties  in  the  State  of  Nevada,  from  whicff  they  will  draw 
their  supply  of  ore  to  feed  their  furnaces. 

We  are  pleased  to  thus  notice  the  extensive  properties  of  Messrs.  Goodhue  &  Co.,  and  do  not  hes- 
itate to  indorse  them  as  earuest,  practical,  reliable  men,  to  whom  mining  is  a  business,  and  by  whom 
it  is  worked  as  a  business. 


CITY  HOTEL 

Corner  State  and  Sixteenth  Sts.,  Chicago. 

W.  F.  ORCUTT,    -    -    -    Proprietor 

Formerly  proprietor  of  old  City  Hotel, 
Corner  Lake  and  State,  in  ^  c 
and  1854. 

100 

TERMS,     - 

AM)  DEPOTS.  ______ 


2.00  Per  Day. 


CURIOSITY 
JHOP," 

In  reply  to  many  inquiries,  we  are  able  to 
announce  that  we  are  now  fully  supplied  with 
the  Volumes  of  the 

CURIOSITY  SHOP 


ThelnterOcean 

CLUB   LIST. 


188O9.'81,  '82, 


983 


These  volumes  are  sent  postage  paid  on  re- 

.  25c  per  vol. 
,5Oc  per  vol. 


ceipt  of  price. 

Bound  in  Paper 

Bound  in  Cloth 


All  volumes  before  188O  are  out  of  print. 

The  WEEKLY  INTER  OCEAN  one  year 
and  ALL  FOUR  ol  the  above  volumes,  91.8&. 

The  WEEKLY  INTER  OCEAN  and  ANY 
ONE  of  the  volumes,  #1.25. 

HOW  IT  IS  APPRECIATED. 

To  the  Editor  of  The  Inter  Ocean.  „,.,,„   ,  «oo 

IOWA  CITY,  Iowa,  April  18,  188.-!. 

Permit  me,  an  old  subscriber  of  THE  INTER  OCEAN. 
to  express  my  appreciation  of  the  •'Curiosity  Shop, 
and  especially  the  full  index.  As  a  student  the  work 
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are  not  found  in  standard  works,  because  written  be- 
fore the  events  occurred. 

Please  send  to  my  address  the  "Curiosity  bhop  for 
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eight-page  paper  4  seven  columns  to  the  page), 
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THE  INTER  OCEAN,  Chieago. 


With 
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gator      *-f>° 

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WEEKLIES. 

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With 
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«3.70 
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9 


In  all  cases  the  order  and  ir 
for  both  publications  must  * 
at  the  same  time. 

THE  INTER  OCEAN,  » 


THE  LITTLE  DETEC 
Or  Housekeepers'  Scales,  a,  usef 

with  Weekly  Inter  Ocean, 
With.  &em,i-  Weekly  Inter  Oc* 


^ 


r- 

State  and  Washington  Sts. 


Dry  Goods, 

Cloaks,  Costumes,  Shawls,  Furs, 
Woolens,  Notions, 

Men's,  Women's,  and  Children's 

Furnishing  Goods, 

Carpetings, 
Curtain  Materials, 

Tapestries, 
Furniture  Coverings, 

And  Goods  for 

"Home  Art  Decorations." 

Largest  and  Most  Complete  Lines. 

We  are  Sole  Agents  for  the  United  States 
for  the 

Celebrated  "ALEXANDRE"  Kid  Gloves, 

The  best  Kid  Glove  Made ! 

And  we  make  a  SPECIALTY  of  producing 
private  designs  in 

Carpets,  Rugs,  and  Upholstering  Goods. 

To  correspond 
With  architectural  features  of  rooms,  and  of 

Furnishing 

Churches,  Theaters,  Hotels,  and  Horn* 



Inspection   Invited! 


TWO 


Great 
Cities 


Joined. 


Chicago! 

SEA 


TWO 


Great 
Stores 


Therein. 


SEA'S  CHICAGO  FRIENDS 

Will  be  gratified  but  not  surprised  to  know 
that  our  new  Trade  Palace  in  Minneapolis 
has  become  as  popular  there  as  have  Sea's 
Six  Floors  in  Chicago. 


SEA'S  MINNEAPOLIS  FRIENDS 

Will  be  pleased  at  the  announcement  that 

our  sales  in  their  city  have  been  three  times 

greater  than  we  had  anticipated,  and  own- 

^g  our  own  premises  (the  largest  and  finest 

the  Northwest),  possessing  unequbled  fa- 

*les,  and  with  experienced  buyers  in  all 

s  of  the  world,  it  is  not  hard  for  us  to 

<5  that  money  goes  farthest  at  Sea's. 


>EA  &  CO., 

Chicago;  Mcollet  av.  &  Ninth  st.3  Minneapolis. 


EVERY  SPOOL 

WARRANTED 

PERFECT. 


SMOOTH, 
STRONG. 

FULL  LENGTH. 


Ladies,  if  you  want  the  BEST  SEWING  SILK  made,  call  for 

"CORTICELLJ 


2O7  and  2O9  Fifth  Avenue,  Chic; 
H.   W.  HARE,  Manager. 


Acknowledged  by  all  aa  being  the  Most  Direct  and  Best  Boute  between  the  Bast 
and  the  "West,  Northwest  and  Southwest. 

TWO  FAST  EXPRESS  TRAINS  DAILY 

BETWEEN" 

Chicago  and  Peorla,  Davenport,   Des  Moines,   Council  Bluffia,  Kansas  City, 
Leavenworth,  and  Atchison. 


Best  Line  to  all  points  in  California,  Colorado,  Ne-w  Mexico,  Arizona,  Kansas, 

Nebraska,  Utah,  Montana,  Washington  Territory,  British  Columbia, 

Nevada,  the  Black  Hills,  Wyoming,  and  Southern  Dakota. 

TKE  EQUIPMENT  OF  THIS  QBEAT  BOUTE  WMrBT^A  (TRS 

MAI^IFICE^T  DAY  CARS, 

BEAUTIFUL  REdLEOTG  CHAIB  CARS, 

PULLMAN  PALACE  SLEEPING  CARS, 

AND  OTTB  O'WIS' 

WORLD-FAMOUS  DINING  CABS. 


All  Through  PaMwcRers  oarrled  on  Pa«t  Express  Train*    Ticket*  for  nlfi  at  all  Prtaxnj 
Office*  in  the  United  States  and  Canada. 


R.  R.  CABLE, 

Px****  and  Oeneral  ICaaAger. 


E.  ST.  JOHN, 

Oen'l  HclMt  aad  Pa 


«•»  ~m 


